En Route
by tanglingshadows
Summary: "Beth started to step forward, and without a second thought, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back." Daryl wasn't about to let her step into the line of fire, not when he just got her back. AU of mid-season finale and beyond.
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1

Pretty sure we all need some happy after last night. This will be a multi-chapter story. Probably about 10-15 chapters.

It goes without saying, this is an AU, because the last ten minutes of "Coda" were so OOC it was ridiculous.

Unedited, so all mistakes are mine.

* * *

She was there, standing right in front of him like a damn dream come to life, wearing the same thing that she'd been taken from him in. Then that bitch cop called for Noah, and Beth started to step forward. Without a second thought, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Stay with me," he whispered. "Trust me, please."

Her gaze flicked between his eyes, and she nodded slowly, and linked their fingers like she'd done that day at the cemetery. She was grounding herself in the present, and he wasn't letting her go again. Not a chance in hell.

"Fine," Rick said with a nod then looked to the officers behind Dawn and sighed. Beth watched as the woman cop, Shepherd, nodded subtly. "Just so ya know, this set up ya got here is doomed. Can't no one keep control the way you are, but I don't guess that's any of my concern." He turned to the group and motioned them out. "Let's go."

Daryl squeezed Beth's hand and pulled her along even though he knew she wanted to stay. She'd risked her life to get Noah out, and now she was leaving him in her place. It went against everything she believed in to turn and walk away, but he knew they would be getting him back soon. And as soon as he turned the corner, he'd tell her about the other cops getting rid of Dawn.

He didn't get the chance to explain, though, as single shot rang out causing Beth to gasp and turn. This time Daryl released her hand and she took off in the direction of the gunshot, and he followed behind her just like everyone else.

When she pushed open the door to the hallway, he saw Noah standing over Dawn's body, wide-eyed and shocked. Beth stuck close to his side, staring down at her captor's body as Rick walked over to Noah and laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to steady him.

"Anyone else wanna go with us?" He asked and looked over the cops and wards. No one made a move to step forward so he shrugged and led Noah out past everyone.

* * *

The walk out of the hospital was quiet as everyone felt the victory settle over them. It seemed completely unreal. It was easy, easier than he'd thought. A simple exchange and everyone had made it out but the woman in charge, and Daryl couldn't say that he gave a shit about that.

The bright light made him squint as Beth took his hand again and smiled up at him. They ignored the others and walked off to the side, and the group seemed to try and give them privacy, too. They knew he was looking for her, and it was more than just because he felt he'd lost her and was obligated to bring her back. He wasn't about to hide those feelings that seemed to be making his chest crack wide open at the sight of her either.

"I thought ya might find me," she whispered. "I was gonna get out even if ya didn't show up, though."

Daryl nodded. "I, uh, I followed that car all night long. I lost it, but I never thought you were dead, girl. You're too strong to go out so easy."

"I was trained by the best," she said quietly, and he noticed her eyes well up with tears. "I told ya they were alive."

At that moment, Daryl crumbled and pulled her into his arms, sobbing against her shoulder. It was too much and the thought of truly losing her weighed on him, pulling him under the flood of emotions that curled together inside his heart.

"It's okay," she spoke softly and played with the hair that hung over the collar of his shirt. "We're gonna be good."

He pulled away and wiped off his face with heels of his hands, and gave her a wobbly half-grin. "Ya don't get outta my sight, ya hear me?"

Beth rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Yes, sir, Mr. Dixon."


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Thank you all so much for reviewing! I hope you continue to like the direction of the story.

All mistakes are mine.

* * *

He fought the urge to push Maggie away when she ran and threw her arms around Beth outside the hospital. That woman hadn't paid her a second thought since the prison fell, but now, she rushed toward like she was a returning soldier or some shit.

She had no fucking clue what Beth was capable of. None of them really did. He'd never counted her out though. Not once.

Beth pulled away from Maggie and took Daryl's hand again, seemingly more comfortable with his affection than anyone else's. That made the strange tingling in his chest pick up when he thought about the ease in which she touched him, and how easily he accepted it.

"Your face," Maggie said loudly. "What did they do to ya?"

Beth shrugged and softly touched her cheek then over her brow. "These were from Dawn," she said quietly.

"She ain't gonna be a laying a hand on anyone anymore," Daryl said and traced his thumb over the stitches on her cheek.

"They'll fade," Maggie said and squeezed her again as a lone tear dripped out of the corner of her eye. "I'm so happy to see ya, Bethy."

It was horseshit. She hadn't been looking for Beth, hadn't mentioned her. Now, she could have been keeping it all inside, but he heard the story about how she'd found Glenn. When she wanted to, she could get shit done.

He'd never tell Beth about them not searching for her. She'd find out about the DC trip, but he'd put it off for as long as he could to spare her the hurt. Maggie and Glenn wrote her off and moved on with another group, but for some reason, they were all back now. He didn't ask for explanations. He didn't really give a damn.

Beth would forgive her though. It was in her nature to do that, but Daryl would think badly of Maggie and Glenn for a long time. Beth had deserved better than that.

Daryl looked down at Beth and saw her tracing the length of the scar over her brow as Maggie walked back to the group near the fire truck. Didn't even stay to look at her sister for more than a minute or question why they were hugged up together. He toyed with the idea of confronting her about it when Beth sighed, turning his attention back to her.

"Does it look too bad?" She asked quietly, and Daryl reached for her hand again.

"Ya look like ya got into a bar fight." Beth shook her head at his joke. "Ya burn down any shine shacks lately?" He asked, trying to make her smile.

Beth looked up at him, and he saw the lost look in her eyes, and his heart dropped. She was strong, she could handle herself, but she was hurting, and he knew she'd never let anyone but him see it.

According to Noah, a lot of bad shit happened in the hospital, but he didn't know what she'd experienced yet. Odds were, it wasn't good, and he felt that blind rage start to overtake the odd feelings he'd been having since seeing her again. He pushed that away, though, and focused on her. Lord knew he was the only one that seemed to worry about her. He met her eyes and said, "You're the prettiest thang I've ever seen."

The words were straight from his heart and Beth sucked in a ragged breath. Daryl watched in shock as her eyes filled with tears and she said, "Ya remember when I said I wished I could just change?" Daryl nodded. "I take that back," she whispered brokenly. "I wish we were still out on that porch or at the funeral home."

"Oh, darlin'." Daryl wrapped her up in his arms.

"I killed people." The words were choppy as she fought to catch her breath through her sobs.

"So have I."

He didn't tell her that to diminish what she'd done, but so she'd see that they were the same. They'd done shit to survive that they never thought they'd have to do. They had scars and were still standing strong.

Daryl hugged her to him as she cried softly against his chest. Rick came into view then, and he shook his head slowly, telling Rick not to say a damn word. This was important. She needed to get it out before she thought too much about it and tried to ball it all up and put it all away.

Rick looked over them curiously then nodded before walking back to the others. Daryl knew it was just a reprieve of a few minutes though. They had miles to go and a new plan that needed to be organized. He was lucky Rick hadn't shrugged and told him to finish it in the truck. He'd become a force to be reckoned with lately, and Daryl wondered just how much longer they'd be toeing the line between right and wrong before a decision was made they couldn't go back from.

That was too much to think on though, so he rubbed his hands up and down Beth's back before saying, "We gotta go, Beth." His voice was soft, but she stiffened at his words.

"Ya said that to me when we left the prison," she said after a moment.

A memory of that day flashed through his mind and he nodded. It felt like years had passed since then, but really, it had only been a few months. Just months. He shook his head at how much shit they'd waded through since then.

"Yeah, and now I'm sayin' it before we leave this shithole, too. It can become a tradition of ours if ya want."

Beth stepped out of his arms and looked up at the hospital. "They think they're doin' good here."

"I imagine so," he said and put an arm around her shoulders. It was like he was afraid she'd up and disappear on him if he wasn't touching her.

"We think we're good, too," she stated quietly.

Daryl looked down out of the corner of his eye at her, wondering if her thoughts had been the same place his had been. "Yeah."

"Who's right?" She asked him, turning her head just enough to meet his gaze. "We can't both be right, can we? There's good guys and bad guys, isn't that how it always plays out?"

He thought back over all the shit he'd done since the turn, starting with that little Mexican boy he'd thrown to the ground, skimming over his time interrogating Randall, the people from Woodbury, his brother, the second group with the Governor, Joe's group, Terminus, and then Grady.

There was no answer for her. Nothing concrete.

"It ain't so cut and dry no more." Daryl shook his head. "Depends on your motivations, I guess. Did ya kill those people 'cause ya liked it or 'cause they forced your hand?"

Beth swallowed hard. "One forced me. I knocked him over the head and a walker finished the job. Another man was 'cause I was tricked into givin' him the wrong meds. The last man I killed was a bully and a rapist, and he'd attacked Dawn but she got the upper hand, and when she pushed him away, I just finished the job and knocked him down the elevator shaft, but I don't regret it."

"They ever—" He broke off and looked away.

She knew what he was asking though. "Nah, but it wouldn't have been too much longer before they came lookin'."

"I don't think you're at fault," he said. "Just think you're a victim of circumstance."

"I don't like that word."

He was about to agree with her when Rick hollered their names and waved them over. "Can I stay with you?" She asked quietly as they started walking toward the group.

"Yeah. Don't want it no other way."


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

Thank y'all so much for the love! It's been so cathartic to write this story, and I'm happy that you all love it, too.

This chapter and the next are Beth's POV.

* * *

Beth decided really fast that she didn't care for Abraham. He was loud and too big. She hated that she looked at him through the eyes of someone still stuck in Grady, too. Instead of seeing what an asset he could be, she worried how she'd be able to defend herself from him.

She wasn't vocal about it, though. In the week since they'd escaped, she spent most of her time sitting quietly beside Daryl and watching everyone. She noticed all the small interactions that no one else would. The way Rick's hand would linger on Michonne's shoulder or back. The fact that Tyreese and Carol stuck close together but never spoke to each other. How Glenn would drift between Tara and Maggie, making sure each was okay. Kind of how he used to do with her.

She'd yelled at Daryl once for thinking she was just another dead girl. It made sense that he wasn't the only one that felt that way. Maybe it should have bothered her that Tara seemed to have slipped into the role of sister, but it didn't. Not really.

It was almost like a burden had been lifted. Maggie was fine without her, and she'd already accepted her death once before. It was almost inconvenient that Beth had made it back at all. If she were still separated from the group, she wouldn't have had to deal with their quiet apologies for leaving without looking for her or how they never thought she'd have made it that long after being kidnapped.

Daryl had just sat beside her, chewing on his thumbnail and clenching his free hand into a fist. Once Beth seemed to have Maggie and Glenn reassured that she was fine with how they had acted, and absolved them from all guilt, Daryl stood up and looked over at her.

"Want anotha trackin' lesson?"

She smiled, happy to get away, and nodded. "Absolutely."

They didn't really hunt all that seriously though. Once they were a decent ways away from camp, Beth mentioned all the things she'd been seeing between the members of their group, and Daryl agreed with most of what she said.

"Abraham's a dick, but you're safe with him. I don't really know what to say about ya bein' scared of him, but I'd fuck someone up if they looked at ya wrong nowadays. He ain't gonna get close enough to touch ya."

"I know ya would, but what if ya ain't around. What if we're on a run, and we get separated? We could run into some men like those ya got caught up with after the funeral home." she said.

"Nah, we ain't gettin' split up again, but I'll teach ya how to fight if ya want."

"I ain't got the strength to fight off a man that's your size, much less a man the size of Abraham."

"Ya just gotta get in a swift kick to the balls, and you're free," he argued and began looking over the ground again. "Or hell, if someone grabs at ya, take that knife off your belt and shove it into their stomach or slash their throat."

Her stomach turned as an image of her daddy kneeling went through her mind. The soft smile that graced his face right before the katana sliced through his neck. She shook her head to rid herself of the image and the blood rushing through her ears, and when she opened her eyes, Daryl stood right in front of her, watching her carefully. She had no idea what else he'd said to her.

"Ya okay?" He asked and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Beth said with a nod. "Just thinking about Daddy is all."

"Your daddy woulda been proud of ya, Beth."

"That's what any good daddy would say to their child's face, but would he have counted me out, too?"

Daryl shook his head. "He knew ya. Saw that same fire I see."

Beth stopped and looked over at Daryl, thinking back to that night at the funeral home. "So ya don't think I'm different?"

Daryl shook his head. "Ya ain't too different. Stronger than before, maybe a little less optimistic, but ya still see the good."

"I don't know about that."

"Ya coulda told your sister to kiss your ass just now, but ya didn't. Coulda told that kid that he was on his own when it came to getting out of the hospital, but ya gave up your freedom for him. You're still good, darlin'."

"Ya sound like me. From before, like at the funeral home."

He tilted his head like he was thinking hard on something then strode across the space between them, stopping inches from her body.

"That night," he paused and Beth felt her heart sped up. "I shoulda just went ahead and told ya that it was you. Only reason I have any faith at all is because of you."

Beth felt her cheeks warm under his gaze and looked down at his boots then back up to his face. He reached out and cupped her face in his hands, tracing the stitches, and leaned their foreheads together.

"We'll set things right," he said quietly.

"Me and you?" She asked quietly, her eyes dropping to his lips for just a second before meeting his eyes again.

"Yeah, me and you."

With a surge confidence from his words and touch, Beth stood up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips over his then pressed against him harder, taking his bottom lip between hers.

His hands curled into her hair and Beth was crushed to his chest as he poured all those pent up emotions into their kiss. When they finally broke apart, Daryl gave a low hum and grinned at her. "Wanted to do that for awhile."

"Me too," she said with a smile of her own.

He pressed another soft kiss to her lips before took a couple of steps back. "C'mon. Let's find somethin' to eat for dinner. Can't show up empty-handed."

* * *

That night they bedded down in between the stacks of a library they'd stopped at.

Beth laid between him and a tall metal bookshelf, his back open to attack, but she couldn't bring herself to argue with him about it. She liked how he wrapped around her, cocooning her in.

It made her angry with herself that she was taking so much comfort in his physical presence; especially considering how she'd been on her own these last few weeks. She knew how to deal with isolation now.

His warmth, the protection he offered was too much to pass up, though. It was other things, too. The way he knew what she was feeling even if she didn't say it out loud, how he depended on her as much as she depended on him.

She figured if she felt guilty for being compliant with their position, he was probably kicking himself for getting too soft and comfortable that he as putting her and him at risk again.

"Daryl?" She whispered over her shoulder and his arm tightened over her stomach.

"Yeah?" His voice was rough from not using it in a while.

"Do ya think it's weak of me to lean on ya now?"

"If it is, I guess I'm weak, too," he said quietly.

"I'm okay being weak with you," she said and rolled to face him.

He squinted at her in the darkness, and she wished they could stay in this little bubble forever. Daryl situated his arm so that Beth's head was laying on his bicep, and he watched her closely for a minute before he said, "Me, too, darlin'."

* * *

A while later, as she watched him sleep, Beth thought that maybe it wasn't weakness. Maybe it was pulling strength from the other to keep moving forward. It was a common saying among them that you couldn't survive alone anymore, so why would it be weakness?

She held him up when he was worn down, and he did the same for her. That was strength to hold someone up like that, and the leaning part?

That was trust.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Thank you all so much! This chapter will start a big deviation from the show, and I hope you're up for it :)

* * *

They had decided to keep moving north.

Beth sat beside the fire, listening closely to each person's arguments for staying and going, but the new people had somehow swayed them to leave Georgia behind. Beth wasn't too sure exactly what to make of them or why their word held so much weight. They were new, and she knew that they'd been there to help Glenn find Maggie and the escape from Terminus, but Eugene had lied to all of them.

There was no trust there. His vote didn't factor into anything for her. He seemed like a nice enough person, but a man that concerned for his own life would probably throw someone he barely knew under the bus without blinking.

"What's goin' on in that head of yours, darlin'?" Daryl asked as he sat down beside her. He'd voted whole-heartedly to stay in Georgia. Just like her.

"Looks like you're finally gonna get outta state, Mr. Dixon," she answered back. "And I trust Eugene about as far as I could throw him."

Daryl hummed in response and handed her a can of beans he'd been heating up for them. Beth took the plastic spoon he'd found her out of their pack and started to eat her half while Daryl picked up a stick and started jabbing it into the ground.

"We don't gotta go," he finally whispered and peaked up at her from the corner of his eye. His hair fell into his face and he shook it away, chewing on his bottom lip.

"You'd leave the group?" She sat down the beans in between their feet and leaned her head toward him. Besides sleeping together on the outside of the group's usual camp or away from everyone if they stayed indoors, no one had ever seen them in so intimate a position, apart from that day outside the hospital. A few heads turned their way, being nosy, as Beth reached out and took his hand, tangling their fingers together. Her head was almost touching his as she said, "I don't want to push ya into somethin' ya'd regret."

"Wouldn't regret it," he mumbled, looking at their hands. "Don't wanna go."

"What about Rick?" She asked quietly, shocked at the sincerity in his voice.

Daryl shrugged a little and shook his head. "Don't know. He's my brother, but I just don't think there's a safe place anymore." He sighed and whispered, "I ain't ready to leave yet. Don't know if I'll ever be."

Beth swallowed hard and nodded. "Me neither."

"Well, let's just play it by ear then," he said. "Me and you can handle it on our own. Just don't want ya to wish ya hadn't left your sister."

"I'm—I'll be okay. It's hard to say, but I think I'm already gone, ya know?"

Daryl held her stare and looked sad for a second before he nodded. "Guess I should talk to Rick then."

"I think maybe _we_ should talk to Rick. We're a team now, right?"

"Damn right, girl." Then a move so uncharacteristically sweet, he picked up her hand and kissed it softly before sitting it back down on his knee. "Got first watch tonight. Why don't ya sleep closer to the fire?"

Beth peaked up and saw Maggie's eyes fixed on her and Carol's eyes fixed on Daryl, and her cheeks burned a little. "I'll just go with ya. Keep ya company."

He bobbed his head and stood up, dropping her hands and grabbing his bow. "Ya got that pistol with the silencer on it?"

Beth nodded and made sure her knife was unclipped so she could pull it from its sheath easier then stood up beside him and follow him to where Rick sat. "Me and Beth got watch. Y'all can have a rest."

Rick eyes seemed to be assessing them and Beth recoiled a little. Being studied like that had always made her uncomfortable, but after Dawn, it made her feel like prey. She shrunk back a little, and his eyes softened enough for her to keep focused and not end up back at Grady in her thoughts.

"All right," he said finally. "Carol was supposed to have watch with ya anyway, so I guess ya need to tell her she's freed up." He quirked an eyebrow at Daryl who looked unaffected, and she didn't know why that would make him squirm in the first place.

"Okay." Then turned a little to the side and leaned down. "Need to talk to ya tomorrow."

Rick's lip quirked up and he snorted softly. "Ya think about what you're gonna say, Daryl. Be real sure before ya do what I think you're gonna do."

Beth placed her hand on Daryl's back and his posture lost its tension. "I know what I'm doin', but I'll talk to ya about it tomorrow anyway. I guess it just gives ya more time to accept it."

Rick shook his head and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and dropped his head. Beth figured he'd say something else, but they both walked away undisturbed.

"Hey," Daryl said and tapped Carol's shoulder. "Beth's gonna take watch with me, so ya can go on and get some sleep."

She looked between them and shook her head. "I don't mind watch, and I'm good on sleep."

Beth stood silent as she watched Daryl shrug and Carol glare. "It's up to you, but me and Beth'll be walkin' the perimeter anyway."

"What if I needed to talk to ya about somethin'?" She asked and glanced at Beth. "Somethin' in private?"

Daryl rocked back on his heels and gripped his bow strap. "Then we'd talk."

"Well, I need to talk to ya," she said firmly and stood up. "In private."

Beth's eyes were glued to Carol's, but she wasn't uncomfortable in any way. It was odd to see jealously and resignation play out over someone's features and know those emotions were aimed at her. It would have bothered her a lot more had they still been at the prison or even during their time on the run, but now it was just strange.

And it wouldn't change anything. The bond between her and Daryl had been forged in fire and moonshine. Serious piggybacks and fingers in grape jelly. Songs and candles and coffins. Longing glances and unspoken words. Now that they had everything right there in front of them again, it wasn't just going to slip away because someone was a little miffed.

Maybe it wasn't a good thing that she'd become so neutral in her feelings to others, especially ones she used to be family with, but it was easier than the alternative which was to care so much about all of them that she'd break each time one was taken from her.

It was then that she came to the conclusion that she had lied when she told Daryl and Dawn she didn't cry anymore. She'd proved that wrong outside the hospital anyway, but now she knew that she was just saving her tears, saving that ten on the pain scale for when things finally were too big to put a lid on.

"I'll wait here," she said and touched Daryl's jeans. She tugged his pocket a little, and he looked at her, scanning her face for any sign she was upset, then nodding when he found none. "Be safe out there."

"Um hm." He jerked his head and the woods. "Let's make sure we ain't go no walkers in the woods. Got your knife?"

"Always." Carol walked past her without another glance.

* * *

He jostled her around as he tried to get under the blanket and she woke up. It was much darker than before and smelled like rain. The fire had gone down until it was just embers, so she couldn't see his face when she rolled to face him. "Is she okay?" She asked in a whisper.

"She ain't been okay in a while."

Beth almost pressed him for more but he yawned and dropped his forehead to her chest, his hair tickling her nose as he wrapped his arm around her.

"This all right?" He asked through another yawn, the warm air he breathed out caused her to shiver a little.

"Yeah. This is okay."


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing!

* * *

He felt like he was suffocating as he woke up, and it took him a second to realize that it was because he was under the blanket that he and Beth were sharing, using her stomach as a pillow.

Her hand was on his neck, and she was playing with the hair that was so overgrown now. It felt nice, but Daryl knew they were in the middle of camp, so he popped up, throwing off the blanket and tipping over in the process. He caught himself on his forearm, and Beth smiled at him as he leaned over her.

He sure didn't plan to end up face-to-face with her, but it was a really nice view.

"Ya drooled on me," she said with a touch of laughter in her voice. "I don't know whether to think it's gross or cute."

"Ain't cute," he mumbled. "Should be honored I drooled on ya. Ain't slept that hard in a long time. Ya musta put me under some kinda damn spell."

"Or maybe my stomach's just a good spot to sleep," she countered and reached up to touch his cheek.

He tried to narrow his eyes and glare at her, but she was just too happy, and even faking being a dick seemed like a bad move. Instead, he just shrugged and gave her a small smile while he sat back on his heels and looked around. Everyone was still asleep, except for Maggie who was sitting on a log across from them. Even if she wasn't facing them, Daryl knew she was watching them out of the corner of her eye.

Daryl stood up and dusted off his jeans, and Beth held up her hand from him to pull her up.

"Gotta take a piss," he said softly.

"Ya've peed in front of me before," she said and smirked.

A hot flush crawled up his neck and over his cheeks. "I's lit." Then he leaned down a little and whispered, "And right before that, I told ya that I'd done a lot of shit I regretted when I was drunk. We can add that to the list, too." Daryl ran a hand over his face and shook his head. "Can't believe I did that. Fuckin' ashamed of myself." He could feel the tips of his ears turn red as his humiliation was fully realized for the first time.

Daryl looked over at Beth from under his hair and sent her an embarrassed half grin. For a second, he watched as Beth's eyes widened a bit then she opened her mouth to say something only to close it and then open it again. Finally she just smiled, tight and close-lipped like she was trying to hold something in.

"Fine. Go pee." The mystery of what she was going to say disappeared as Beth stood up and stretched. The shirt she was wearing sliding up, and he couldn't help but stare at the soft, pale skin it showed. "Promise I ain't gonna be your chaperone."

"Looks like I might need to be one though," Maggie snarked from across the dead fire.

This time his glare wasn't for show, and Maggie shifted under it and looked away.

"Don't take her shit, ya hear me?" His voice was quiet and just for Beth to hear.

"I won't."

"I'll be right back."

The leaves crunched under his boots as he walked away, but it wasn't enough to drown out Beth telling her sister good morning like she hadn't just smarted off to her. Daryl wondered if she would miss her sister in the end. Hell, he missed Merle even if he'd been an asshole most of the time.

There was no use dwelling on that though, so he did is business out behind a tree and started on his way back, trying to put together what he was going to tell Rick. It wasn't going to be some grand speech. He wasn't like that and never would be.

As he crossed into camp again, he just decided to tell him whatever popped into his mind first and roll with it. Beth was still talking to Maggie so he went to their sleep area and picked up their blankets, folding them as best he could then cramming them into their pack.

The others had started getting up and moving around, too, so he grunted out a good morning to a few of them, and kept quiet around the rest.

A small inner circle had never bothered him at all, and pretty soon, it'd be even smaller.

* * *

He had been minding his own business a little while later when Noah sat down next to him, looking uncomfortable as hell. Daryl wasn't sure what to make of him. He had potential to be part of the group, but he'd been taken in by Grady so soon after the turn that he'd never been in the positions they'd been in on the run. He was almost as innocent as Gabriel who sat near the edge of their camp, fidgeting with something in his pack.

Daryl hated to say it, but "dead weight" was what went through his mind when he looked at the man of God they'd picked up. He thought the same thing about Noah at first, along with chicken shit, for ambushing him and Carol like he had.

"Hey," Noah said and nodded down at the bolt he was cleaning. "Everythin' good."

"Ummhmm." Daryl didn't take his eyes off the fletching as he brushed it off.

It was silent for a few seconds before Noah said, "She talked about you. After I told her my story, she knew that they didn't take you because you were strong. They couldn't have kept you down. I think it flipped a switch in her that they all thought she was so weak that they could control her."

He sat the arrow down across his lap and unclenched his jaw. "Imagine so."

"She saved my life, and when the time came, I wanted to save hers, too."

Daryl tilted his head. "Whatcha gettin' at, kid?"

"I'm just glad that you were as strong as she thought you were because we'd have been dead without you."

"There were other people there. Rick negotiated the exchange."

Noah lowered his voice and looked down at the ground. "You were the only one looking."

"How ya figure?"

"No one pays attention to me. I've heard all sorts of things since I've been here."

"Not from me." Daryl pointed out with a bit of an edge in his voice. If Noah was looking for a heart-to-heart, he wasn't going to be getting it.

"No, none from you," he agreed then started to stand up. "Thank you. For looking."

Daryl nodded but didn't glance up, wondering just how much he gave away to the others in the group by being so unwavering about finding Beth. They had to have known there was something there. He guessed if they didn't, they'd figure it out soon enough.

Not ten minutes after Noah took off, Rick asked him to tag along while he did a perimeter check. As they were walking out of camp, he caught Beth's eyes and shook his head slightly as she started to stand. They were a team, but this moment, like the one she'd had with her sister, was meant to be between him and Rick.

"So?" Rick stopped and met his eyes after the got a ways off.

"We're stayin'." Short, to the point, maybe even a little too short.

Rick shook his head and sighed heavily. "It doesn't make any sense."

"We're done, Rick. I think we're just runnin' on fumes and need some peace. Me and Beth? We got all this unfinished shit between us, and we want to be still and alone for just a little while longer."

"You're gonna stay out here in the woods then?" His voice was turning harder, more aggravated.

"Nah, we'll find us a place. Make some runs, plant a garden when the time comes."

"I can't believe you're walkin' away from us. We're your family." His friend's voice seemed to echo through the trees despite how low and intense he was speaking.

After weighing the words that pinging around in his head, Daryl said, "Ya are, but I think me and Beth are our own family, too."

The stood in silence for several long minutes before Rick walked closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want to leave ya here, but I can't stop ya." Daryl chewed on his lip and caught Rick's eyes as he finished, "And ya know where to find us if ya ever change your mind."


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

* * *

They stood off to the side as the fire truck drove out of sight, her sister holding back tears in the backseat as Glenn held her close. Carl helping Judith wave goodbye through another window. She felt a sense of peace settle over her as Noah waved from the back. He was going home. Just like she always hoped he would.

The truck went over a hill and out of sight then the road was quiet.

"Gotta get somewhere before dark, darlin'."

"Do ya think they'll make it?"

"Yeah," Daryl answered back immediately.

"Do ya think we'll make it?"

That made him stop, and he took her hand. "Yeah." Then they slipped off into the woods. This time becoming a group of two by choice and not circumstance.

* * *

_Just like Rick had known what Daryl was going to say, Maggie had known it was coming, too. She protested and said how stupid it was, but Beth just hugged her and told her it was just the way things were falling._

_They wanted to go north. Her and Daryl wanted to stay in Georgia._

_"I'm sorry, Mags. I'm not doin' this to be mean. This is what Daryl and I want. We've spent the last few months runnin' and hidin', lookin' for a safe zone that might not even be there. We're tired."_

_Maggie shook her head and started to cry. "I'm so sorry. I pushed ya to this. It was easier than imaginin' what had happened to ya. I just pictured ya happy and with daddy."_

_Beth hugged her tighter and rocked them back and forth. "Ya didn't. Believe it or not, me and Daryl were good. We had a shot at really bein' happy, but then I got taken. I wanna see where that goes, and it doesn't go north."_

_"Alexandria," Maggie had reminded her. "That's where we're goin'. That's where ya'll come when this little honeymoon period wears off."_

_Beth couldn't stop the smile that broke across her face, and thought about more nights sitting on some porch, talking, maybe drinking, but mostly just living. "I hope it never ends, and I don't think y'all should go either. I think it'll just be more fightin' and dyin'."_

_"I can't stay here," she whispered. "I'm sorry."_

_The smile on her face shrunk to a small, understanding one and she said, "Then we're at a crossroads, big sister. Ya can't stay, and I can't go."_

* * *

"Where's your head at, woman?" Daryl asked as they walked through the woods, and she shook her head.

"Sorry. Just thinkin' about Maggie. I kinda get where she was comin' from before. Not searchin' for me, kinda adoptin' Tara. From now on, I'll go the opposite direction. I'm just goin' to think of her in Alexandria with Glenn, maybe havin' a child. I won't think of bad things. Right now, I can decide how things play out, and maybe that's selfish of me, but I'm glad that I don't have to know or see it."

He scanned the ground as they kept up a steady pace and said, "Guess I sorta did the same thang when Merle was out there on his own. Nobody could kill Merle but Merle then one day, there he was."

"I don't remember it being as simple as y'all bumpin' into each other while you were out huntin'."

"'Course not. Nothin' with Merle was ever simple."

The continued on for a long while, occasionally Daryl would shoot a squirrel for dinner, but most of the time, they walked in silence. It wasn't until mid afternoon that Beth asked, "Why did ya want to stay?"

He looked over at her, and she watched his guard fall down completely. "I just wanted it to be like it was. Guess I kinda thought the same thang as you. I get to pick how their story ends now, and I get to see where ours would've gone."

"What if we hate each other? Or I can't stand the way ya always leave squirrel guts on the porch or pee in the floor when you're drunk?"

"Ain't gonna piss in the floor, damn woman, but I can promise ya that if ya tell me to burn the guts someplace else I will. I'll do whatever ya say. Within reason."

Beth snorted and shook her head. "So we can be like an old married couple at the end of the world?"

Daryl shrugged. "Guess so."

And that was good enough for her. For now.

* * *

The first night by themselves was peaceful. The last time they'd gotten separated from the group, they'd spent hours running and finally collapsed in a heap in a pasture. This time, they walked hand-in-hand through the forest before it opened up into a sub division.

There were a few walkers stumbling around, but they didn't notice them as the keep close to the houses for cover. Most of the houses were big, so they decided that it would be too much trouble to clear them at that moment, so they opted for a tree house in one of the backyards.

It was a fancy one with a railing around the outside and it was built and painted to look like an actual house.

"This is what happens when people ain't got shit else to do with their money," Daryl grumbled as he climbed the ornate ladder built into the tree.

"Ya need to watch your mouth, sir. This could very well be our home for a few days." Beth laughed as she followed him up.

Inside was just as pretty and detailed. Little windows with tiny lace curtains and workable shutters. A fake kitchen and a little desk with coloring books and crayons still put away neatly.

"This is just precious," Beth said with a smile. "Some little girl was very happy here."

The middle of the tree house was bare, and a toy box was pushed up against one wall that Daryl sat their pack on.

"Plenty big enough for us and up high so we ain't gotta worry about walkers," Daryl said and went about setting out their bedding. He unrolled the single sleeping bag then unzipped it and laid it flat. Blankets just got tossed on top.

"We're not goin' out again?" Beth asked as she watched him lay down and put a forearm over his face.

"Nah, got enough food for tonight. This place is a good one for a rest."

She watching him closely as he closed his eyes and sighed. That's when she realized that the guilt had finally hit him.

For some reason, she didn't feel guilty. She felt a wistfulness when she thought about her family. Like their story was open-ended now. There was hope, and even if they didn't cross paths again, she'd have that.

Her and Maggie weren't so different after all. One just chose to think of her sister in heaven and the other chose to think of her sister living a happy, full life.

Daryl wouldn't deal the same way. The people they'd been with were the ones who'd help make him the man he was, and she knew he'd always feel a responsibility towards them. He was their protector and provider, and she got the feeling that he put all those things away just for her, and now he was trying to come to terms with that.

It probably would have helped if she'd have laid down beside him and curled into his side. Let him feel her presence, but she didn't want to sway him.

And the truth was, if Daryl told her he wanted to get on the road, she'd have gotten in the nearest truck and started driving them herself.

Just as she was about to break the heavy silence, Daryl looked over at her, sitting at the window, and said, "When I found Merle, he was already turned, eating on somebody he'd shot down, I guess. I won't ever forget his eyes, Beth. They were still blue, but not his. He looked at me and didn't see me. Didn't know who I was or remember that time when I was twelve and he was seventeen and he got me drunk for the first time. How he'd left me to fend for myself against our old man the day he turned eighteen and could join up. I don't wanna go through that again."

And just like that, she remembered something he'd said months ago, he was tired of losing people.

That's when she left the window and laid down with her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her, and they settled into the stillness, feeling at ease for the first time in a long time.

Instead of watching their friends keep dying, they'd opted out. That might have been cowardly, but everyone came to a point where they'd slip and let that darkness take over or they would do something to prevent it from happening.

She might not be as optimistic as she once was, but Daryl wasn't as sullen either. They'd found a delicate balance of hope and light, and they'd decide the end for themselves.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

Thank you again for your response to the story. I really like this chapter :)

* * *

The tree house proved to be a pretty decent spot to stay. It was close enough to a small town that they could make supply runs and gather up stuff for when they tried to find a more permanent place, and also, the back yard fence kept the walkers from the street out.

There were two walkers inside the house, though, always pressing up against the sliding glass doors when Daryl and Beth would walk by. They decided that before they left, they'd take care of them, but didn't see any rush. Both of them were so weak that they didn't even pound the glass. They just squished their faces up against it.

They'd created a bit of a bubble for themselves there, and most mornings, he found himself in the same position they'd slept in that night at camp—his head on her stomach with her hand in his hair.

He liked it way more than he wanted to admit. He liked her smile and the shy glances that she'd send his way, even the way she'd pop up on her toes and press these sweet, gentle kisses to his lips. No reason behind it, just because she wanted to, she said.

It was almost like the last few months hadn't happened at all, and they'd traded the funeral home for a tree house.

The day he took her stitches out, a week after they arrived, was a quiet one, though. She seemed to get dragged back, and he couldn't stand it. So, when she decided to take a nap, he went searching through the houses on the street they'd cleared. Eventually, he found a half empty bottle of peach schnapps stuffed in the back of a liquor cabinet right where it belonged.

He snorted as he held it in his hands. Then he felt his throat get tight all of sudden, and he struggled for a good breath. It might not have been the best, but being able to bring it back to her was a lot better than finding this and having her still gone.

* * *

"Thought peach schnapps sucked," she said as he sat it on the floor across from her.

"It does, smartass, but it's all I could find. Even now people ain't desperate enough for this shit."

"Then why'd you bring it?" She asked as she tilted the bottle to read the back label.

"'Cause ya need to take your mind off your face."

"Thought ya said it wasn't so bad."

"Ya sure do put alotta weight on what I say, don't ya?" At the blush that stained her cheeks, he added, "You're beautiful. Same as ya were when we found that first damn bottle of schnapps."

Beth stared at him for a moment then picked up the bottle and carried it over to him. He thought she'd sit beside him, but she tapped his knees with the bottle before she scooted right between his legs, her back to his chest.

His thoughts were all over the place due to the warm, content feeling that came with her snuggled up against him.

It was nice.

It felt right.

He wanted to stay that way.

Daryl stretched one leg out straight and kept the other propped up so he could place his arm on it, then he leaned his head back against the wood. With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and felt her move her arm, probably to get the lid off the bottle, then lean into him as she took her first sip.

"Ugh, good God," she muttered. "Tastes like rubbin' alcohol." Then she took another drink. And another. And another.

Daryl felt her fingers link with his over his knee, and he opened his eyes to see her looking up at him.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Umhm." He nodded and her smile widened, her eyes just the tiniest hint of glassy.

"Ya ever think what woulda happened if we'd gotten to stay at that funeral home?" Beth asked turning around completely, sitting up on her knees between his legs.

"It was all I thought about at first," he whispered, the secret finally spilling from his lips to the only person he ever wanted to hear it. "First time in my life I's ever really happy."

"It's a shame we didn't get to find out, huh?" Her cheeks were a little flushed and her smile was hopeful.

Daryl sat in awe of her as all his emotions spilled out in words that he never thought he'd be able to put together for her. "Damnit, girl, I wanted to keep ya safe. When those walkers ran in, I felt like such a fuckin' idiot for openin' that door like I did. All I could think of was what would happen to ya if ya didn't get out. Even in the basement, I worried that there were more outside, that ya'd get outnumbered. Your ankle was shit, ya know?"

Beth nodded and continued to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Then that car. I ain't never felt so scared in all my life. I told ya I ran, and I did, Beth. I yelled for ya, and chased it as far as I could. And then I found Rick and all of 'em. It wasn't in the best circumstances, but I saw 'em all again, and all I could think of was how you'd told me we'd see 'em and how ya weren't there." He paused and shook his head. "And how that was my fault."

Her hand slipped over his cheek, and he leaned into her touch. "It wasn't your fault. Ya found me."

"And I lost ya, too."

Beth sighed and shook her head. "I'll never be able to make ya think any differently about it, but I'm here now 'cause ya found me, and we're up here in this tree house, drinkin' schnapps and figurin' out just where we can go so we can be happy again."

"'M happy now," he said and kissed her palm.

"Me, too."

* * *

After their talk, she'd put the bottle away and just leaned against him again. The sky had darkened outside, and there were soft groans from walkers out in the street, but they were protected from all of that.

"Where do ya think we should go?" Beth asked quietly.

The dark always seemed to make her whisper, and he just followed her lead.

"I remember when I's a kid, my old man took me to this old armory out in the woods. They'd built it during Vietnam as a place to train the little unit of National Guard that was in our area. It got abandoned though. Ain't really big, got a nice cement wall around it. No tellin' if it's still standin' or not, but it might be worth a shot."

"Why didn't ya mention it when we were on the run?" She asked as she traced lines on the back of his hand.

He shrugged. "Didn't really think it'd go over well right after the farm. All Shane talked about was finding that military base, and everyone seemed real keen on forgettin' about his ass. Then we found the prison, and it was nice. When me and you were on the run, I didn't wanna get too far outta the group's area in case we ran into someone."

Beth raised his hand up and kissed a scar that traced his knuckle. "What if people are already there?"

"We're gonna go in all quiet like and scope it out. If people are there, we're just gonna keep on walkin'."

"I like this plan," she said and shimmied her shoulders a little against him and scooted her hips back even further, leaving not an inch of space between them.

His skin prickled and felt uncomfortably tight as she sighed and leaned her head back against his chest. "Daryl?"

"Yeah?" His voice was strained as he answered. He hadn't realized he'd leaned down until the scent of salty skin invaded his nose, and he realized he was almost touching her neck.

"What did Carol want that night?"

He shook his head a little to clear it, but was so confused about the turn of the conversation and the way his lower half was much too happy with her ass pressed up against it.

"Huh?" He asked dumbly and pushed her away a little. Maybe some space would allow for his blood flow to his brain, he thought.

"Carol. When she got ya to herself, what did she want?" Beth tried to press back against him, and he was weak so he let her, enjoying ever bit of her that pressed into him.

"Oh, she was just bein' hormonal." He waved her off and put his forehead on her shoulder, turning just enough so that his nose touched the base of her neck.

She shivered and pulled away. "Tell me."

"I didn't look for her," he said quietly. "Then she saw me lookin' for you, and bein' all 'have a little faith' and shit and didn't understand what changed. Once she saw us together, she got it. Made her a bit upset."

"Does she love ya?" She asked and turned her head, making him move from her shoulder to meet her eyes.

"Ain't never said it," he said with a shrug.

"Do ya love her?" The way her eyes seemed so clear and serious made him think he was standing on the edge of something he didn't realize the seriousness of until that moment.

He swallowed hard and just let the words out. "Not like I love you."


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

* * *

They had danced around the issue so many times. Little hints here or there since she'd been found about what they were or how they felt. She knew there was a spark. She felt that in her chest when she looked at him, and then there were the tingles that shot all over her body when they touched.

Leaning back against him was purely selfish. Just so she could feed the fire inside her, but the closer they got the more and more she wanted real words instead of knowing looks.

Then he'd said it.

The words that were poised on the tip of her tongue since the first morning he'd woken up on her stomach. The ones she was afraid to let out in case he wasn't ready yet. The words she was scared he'd say he could never reciprocate.

Beth could have been difficult and asked him just how he loved her, but words would never do justice to the softness in his eyes at that moment.

She leaned up and kissed him, ignoring the desire to confess her love to him for just a moment. There was no slow build like the others before it. She met him in a fierce kiss as she pressed against him with such a force it knocked his head back against the wall.

"Sorry," she mumbled against his lips.

"S'okay." His words were breathed against her as he tangled his hands into her hair and pushed her back toward their pallet.

With her back flat against the floor, she opened her eyes and stared up at him with a stupid grin stretched across her face. He was breathing heavy above her, about to lean down to take her lips again when she whispered, "I love you."

Daryl stopped in shock and looked at her with wide eyes. "Really?" Beth nodded and reached a hand to brush his hair out of his eyes. "I didn't say that so ya'd say it back," he whispered in disbelief.

"I know," she said quietly. "And I didn't say it 'cause I thought ya wanted to hear it. I love ya. It's kinda like breathin', ya know? Somethin' I've been doin' without really thinkin' about it. I want ya to know how much I love ya."

"Is it a lot?" He asked with a small smile. His eyes were looking at her lips then away to where his hands were placed on either side of her head. Beth watched as he reddened a little and realized that he wasn't trying to be funny, he really wanted to know. Then it all hit her at once.

How many times had Daryl _ever_ been told he was loved?

Beth turned him to face her again, and when he met her eyes, she said, "Ya mean more to me than anythin' in the world."

He grunted softly in response and swallowed loudly. "Didn't do shit to deserve it."

"I think ya have." Beth leaned up and pressed another kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Ya saved my life. Ya taught me have to survive, and if I hadn't had that, I'd have never been able to put up with the things I had to do in the hospital. I'd have given up."

"You're so much stronger than that," he said and touched the scar on her cheek. "Ya got a fire in ya, girl. It was just burnin' a little less bright for awhile."

Beth laughed lowly. "I feel like I'm on fire right now."

Daryl shook his head. "Don't know what I'm doin' here. Ain't ever done this before."

Beth's eyes widened. "Like ever?"

"There was a girl once," he whispered. "Sorta like a birthday present from Merle, I guess, but this ain't that, and I'm not even sure how to go forward for here." He paused and asked, "Have ya?"

She smiled sadly and nodded. "I was a bit of a wild child there after the world went to hell. Jimmy was sweet though, and more like a best friend. I didn't love him," she admitted, finally accepting their relationship for what it was. Beautiful. Simple. Innocent.

Daryl shifted uncomfortably, but didn't look away. "But ya love me?"

Shaking her head, Beth pulled him down for another kiss, the full length of his body, pressing into hers. "I've never loved anyone like I love you."

* * *

It didn't go further than kissing that night, but it still seemed so fulfilling. Daryl covered her with his body, strong arms caged in her head, and when he'd get caught up in the moment, he'd allow his lower half to grind into her.

Stars. Beth saw them all every time he'd hit the right place.

"Just don't think this is the time," he muttered when she tried to unbutton his shirt.

"Why not?" She asked as she toyed with the hem.

"Dunno, just a feelin'."

Beth wanted to ask him if he was nervous or thought he wouldn't be up to practice, but quickly threw that thought away. She might have been inexperienced, but she knew not to question a man, especially one like Daryl who tended to lash out when asked things he didn't particularly like.

"Then kiss me some more."

Instead of laying back over her, he pulled her to straddle his hips and Beth leaned forward, her hair long since taken from its ponytail making a curtain around them.

"Sorta feels like our own little world," he said.

"It is."

* * *

The following day they watched a huge herd staggering down the street from the woods and both of them cringed at the loud groans. Neither one made much noise at all that day as they passed by in a seemingly endless drove.

Maggie had mentioned a safe zone gone bad not terribly far away and wondered if they walkers had all finally gotten out.

It wasn't a pretty day to say the least, Daryl peed out of the window that faced away from the road and Beth had to use the small bucket Daryl had found to haul stuff up in to the tree house.

At nightfall, they decided that they'd head for the armory the next day. Based on the map that Daryl had, it would take them about four hours to get there as it was in northern Georgia, but he figured they could make it in a day on foot or less if they were able to hotwire a car that had been left in on the garages.

"We'll need to stop on runs, too," Beth said. "Find some more food, supplies, gardenin' stuff for when it's time."

"Umhm," he grunted and went back to sharpening his knife.

"We've been here a full week, Daryl," Beth said as she sat beside him. "They're probably there. We need to get to our home, too."

He shrugged. "Just like the tree house is all."

"Me, too. I never had one when I was little, but this was the kind I always wanted. Did you build one?"

"Does a tree stand count?"

Beth thought for a second. "Was it your place to escape to?"

He sat very quiet for a couple of minutes then answered, "Yeah. Yeah it was."

"Then, yes, it counts."

Daryl laughed a little. "Ya need to go take a drink of that nasty ass schnapps then, don't ya?"

Beth felt her grin widen, and she turned his face toward and kissed him soundly, running her tongue over his bottom lip just like he liked. The deep groan that left his throat caused her to heat up immediately.

"You're just too damn sweet," he whispered and moved away again. "Get me all messed up inside."

After that he got so quiet that she thought he was upset, but after he finished sharpening his knife, he pulled her to the pallet of blankets and sleeping bags and curled around her.

"Tomorrow we're gonna have to be alert. I need ya to watch my back, and I'll be watching yours. Only way we're gonna make it is if we're smart and quiet. At least until we get settled."

"Then we can get loud?" The innuendo in that statement caused her blush.

"Well," he cleared his throat. "Within reason, I guess."

At that Beth laughed quietly and pretty soon Daryl joined in to.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch. 9

Thank y'all so much for reviewing! I love reading your thoughts :)

* * *

The trek through the woods was a lot harder than he'd hoped. He figured that all the stragglers had passed, but there were still a few staggering through the trees, lost, it seemed.

Daryl took care of most of them with his bow since he didn't want to get closer to them than necessary, but sometimes Beth had to join in. She was always so quick and efficient in her kills, and it took him back to the shine shack and how he'd manhandled her and shot arrows into a walker just because he couldn't control himself.

They'd been walking for a while when she broke the silence and asked, "What's your favorite color, Daryl?"

He just looked at her for a minute and then said, "Green."

A triumphant smile crossed her lips and she asked, "Why? And don't shrug either. Give me the honest to God reason."

He smirked at her then sighed. "I like how the trees look when there's a storm rollin' in. How the clouds are all dark, and the trees just pop out from the background. The darkness makes 'em brighter or somethin'. It really pretty to me."

"That's a good answer." She nodded and kept on walking just a little ways ahead.

"What's yours?"

She seemed to think about it then said, "Before, my favorite color was purple. I like how it could be bright or dark. My momma had this purple ring that she wore on special occasions. I don't know what kinda stone it was, but I always loved it. She was goin' to let me wear it to prom that year, but everythin' went to hell."

They slipped into silence again, and walked at least another mile before Daryl sat down on a log and pulled out his map. He couldn't even explain why he was doing it, but before too long, he had their course changed to send them an hour off track.

"We're gonna head back to your daddy's farm," he said softly. "Prolly stay a night or two if there's no one there, and we're gonna get back your momma's ring. We're gonna get some pictures, too."

"What?" Beth gasped. "I don't think I can do that."

"Ya can," he said with conviction. "I ain't got shit left of my family, but we can do this for ya. We can get it back."

* * *

They'd found a truck along the side of the road and made it to the farm by early evening. Instead of driving up though, they parked up the road and walked through the trees to see whether anyone was there or not. Thankfully, it seemed undisturbed from the outside. The barn was still in rubble, but it hadn't taken the house with it.

With slow steps and watchful eyes, they made their made up the steps and onto the porch. Daryl knocked on the doorframe twice, but didn't hear any movement from inside, so he turned the doorknob and walked in.

The house was exactly the same as when they'd left it, and he wondered what the chances were that no one had stumbled upon this treasure outside the sleepy little town of Senoia.

He watched Beth walk around, taking in the family pictures on the mantel then the worn wedding ring quilt on the back of the couch before she went up the stairs. After he walked back to the truck and drove it up the driveway, he secured everything downstairs, then he went upstairs, too.

When he walked inside Beth's room, he saw the bathroom door was open. Quietly, he walked across the floor and peeked inside. Beth stood there, silent, staring at the frame of a broken mirror.

"I was so weak." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Ya were overwhelmed and in shock," he argued.

"I cut myself with a shard of glass."

Daryl picked up her wrists and moved the bracelets aside. "Ya were scared, and besides, ya didn't wanna die."

"Nah, I wanted attention, right?" She shook her head. "I didn't mean that."

"Neither did I," he said quietly and traced her scar. "I used to drink myself stupid when I got sad. Ya just went a little further, but ya didn't go far enough because ya woke yaself up with it. Ya grew up, ya become a strong, smart woman."

Beth flushed under his praise. "Ya make me feel strong."

"And you make me feel like I'm good."

"Ya are."

Daryl stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"We should stay in here tonight," she whispered. He knew her tone and looked at her questioningly. "It feels right here."

Daryl swallowed thickly and nodded. It felt like a beginning where things had once ended for them.

* * *

The kitchen was a wreck. All the perishable food had rotted, but the canned food was in good shape. Daryl hauled down a duffle bag they found in Beth's closet and filled with all the food, several towels, blankets, soaps and razors, and extra clothes for her. They raided Shawn's closet and found a few things for Daryl that he finally agreed, too.

Shawn was a bit more preppy than he'd ever been, but a fresh shirt was a fresh fucking shirt, so he didn't argue much.

There was no water or lights since the generator was dead, but Beth had found some candles and kerosene lamps that they could use then carry with them once they left. Without being asked, Daryl took two buckets down to the creek and loaded them down with water so that they could get some of the grim off of them before they changed clothes.

While he was gone, he thought about the implications that the night might have. He was nervous to be sure. It'd been a long time for him, and Beth had more recent experience, but what could a seventeen-year-old kid know about fucking?

It wasn't that he was saving himself for someone or any bullshit like that. He'd just grown up with a man that ran around on his momma constantly, and an older brother who, every time he turned around, was on an antibiotic because he'd caught something from someone. They didn't have condoms, but he figured he could just pull out if it got that far. Wasn't fool proof, but he doubted one time would be their downfall.

They washed up in separate bathrooms then Daryl went and double-checked that everything was secure before he trudged up the stairs to Beth's room. She was sitting at the edge of the bed, rubbing some sweet smelling lotion over her legs.

Long blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders and he was pretty sure his old flannel shirt and vest had never looked so good before.

"Why'd ya put on something dirty?" He asked as she stood up.

"I've always wanted to try it on."

"Why?" He asked, torn between confusion and something else he wouldn't name.

"Just feels right." She shrugged and the clothes moved and hung off one shoulder.

And it did. He knew it did, so he crossed the room to her, taking her as gently as he could in his arms.

The rest was a heart-racing blur to him. The next morning it would come in snippets as he slowly woke up with her tangled around him.

Her taste. The slick heat of her body. The way she breathed his name against his cheek when he slid inside her for the first time. God, even the hitch in his voice when he pulled out and pushed back inside, asking her, "'S okay?"

"Yeah," she breathed right before he thrust in just a bit harder and made her moan.

Then there was the feeling of her nails digging into the skin of his back, and how he didn't even care if she felt the scars. He traced her cheek and kissed the brow, too.

The way her little bed frame would squeak with every movement. Then when he brushed the hair out of her face and kissed her, knowing that no one else had ever been with her here, and that he never imagined he'd have the privilege either.

"I ain't gonna be able to last much longer," he whispered into her hair.

She gasped out and turned her face into his neck. "That's okay."

With not even a second to spare, he pulled away and finished himself against the newly smooth skin of her thigh then collapsed against her.

She ran her hands up and down his back as their breathing evened back out. Once he rolled away from her, he picked up shirt and wiped her off, then brought her close to his side. Beth fell asleep pretty quickly after that, but not before she threw a leg over his and kissed his chest, whispering her love and happiness so quietly he almost didn't hear.

When she was out, he looked down at her and felt something switch inside of himself. He wasn't alone anymore, not that he was before, but right now, he had her, and she was everything.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch. 10

Thank you all so much for your kind words! I love reading them.

This chapter is Beth's POV and the morning after the last chapter. Where Daryl skims, Beth is more detailed when it comes to certain things.

* * *

The sun cut through the curtains, blinding her for a moment. Then she stretched and smiled as she felt the sheets slip over her bare skin and Daryl's warmth beside her.

It had been better than anything she'd ever imagined. The way his hands seemed shy as they drifted over the skin of her hips and up higher. Then the kisses that started at her mouth and moved downward until her legs were over his shoulders and her hands were buried in his hair.

Beth shivered and blushed at the same time.

"Ya look like the cat that ate the canary." His voice was gruff beside her and immediately her heart sped up.

She turned to face him and opened her eyes, blue meeting blue for the first time that day, and she leaned over and kissed him softly before saying a single word.

That quickly changed into something much more passionate, and he pulled her to lay on top of him, as he his hands gripped her shoulders and kept her top half pressed against his chest.

"Sleep good?" He asked once she started kissing his jaw.

"Umhm." She smiled against his neck. He let out a sharp breath then he slowly started to push her body down to where her center was pressed against his hardness.

"Again?" She asked and looked into his eyes.

He nodded; his eyes were wide and dazed. "Wanna see ya in the light," he said quietly.

Beth smiled, but slid off his lap to lay on her side facing him. Daryl rolled to his side and looked confused for a split second before Beth reached under the blanket and took his hand, moving it up the inside of her thigh.

He grunted low in his throat as his fingers skimmed her lips to circle that sensitive spot that made her shudder.

"Oh," she breathed and tilted her hips against his hand, raising a leg to hang over his hip, opening her up more.

"This good?" He asked quietly then started kissing the crook of her neck, sucking her skin slightly.

"Yes." Beth turned her face into the pillow to give him more room to kiss, but he scooted down the bed to be even with her breasts.

Just as he slipped in a finger, he circled her nipple with his tongue. "Ummm, Daryl."

"Yeah?" He asked against her pebbled skin.

"That was a good sound. Don't stop," she said with a smile as he met her eyes.

He nodded and switched between her nipples and pushed a second finger into her. When she close to losing it, she tugged on his hair.

"Huh?" He met her eyes and seemed completely confused on why he had to stop. Not so much that he stopped moving his fingers, though.

"Get up here," she moaned.

Daryl moved up to lay over her, and brushed a hand over her face. "You're so pretty," he whispered.

Beth blushed and looked away, only to have Daryl turn her to face him again.

"I mean it," he whispered. Then he kissed her, tracing his tongue over her bottom lip before taking it between his own. She was so caught up in kissing him that she barely registered that he'd lined them back up and started to push inside.

Daryl pulled back a little and held her face in his hand. "Wanna see your face," he breathed and slid all the way inside.

She held his eyes until he started moving and then couldn't stop the urge to close them against the pleasure.

"Nuh uh," he groaned as he bottomed out again. "Eyes on me."

Beth looked back at him, one hand around his neck and the other skimming down his side to hold his hip.

"That's it," he mumbled then he tangled a hand in her hair and pressed into her with such force that she lost her breath.

His stare was so intense; she wondered what he was trying to see in her eyes, and with each down stroke, it got harder and harder to keep her eyes from fluttering closed.

"Can ya come like this?" He asked, breathless.

"I think so."

His eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "Gonna have to do better then." She almost thought he meant her, but then he moved his hand from her hair in between their bodies.

"Oh, God," she groaned as he picked up his speed and circled her clit with his fingers.

With every stroke, she was pulled closer and closer to the edge, and his brow furrowed more in concentration.

"Give it up, girl," he gritted out. "C'mon now."

Her legs shuddered and clamped around his waist.

"Fuck yes," he sighed. "That's right. Go on," he groaned as she fell over the edge, spasming around him with her head kicked back against the pillows.

Daryl dropped his head to the space between her neck and shoulder. "I wanna come inside ya so damn bad." Before she could respond, he pulled away and took himself in his hand, stroking roughly.

Her insides clenched at the sight and sat up on her knees, bringing their chests together and putting her hand over his. "Let me."

"Good Lord," he groaned and rested his head against her shoulder. They both watched as her hand moved just like his had.

His breath was coming out in pants against her neck and the hand on her hip tightened roughly. "Close," he breathed out.

Her thumb swiped over the head, and she felt a wetness leaking out. Without thinking, she scooted back, almost making Daryl fall forward from moving her shoulder.

"Huh?" He looked down right as she leaned forward and took him in her mouth. "Oh, fuck," he groaned and buried his hands in her hair. He didn't move her at all, though, and after just a few seconds of bobbing up and down his length, tasting both of them on his skin, he grunted, "Comin'."

Several thick streams of liquid coated her tongue and slid down her throat. She didn't stop to taste, instead licking the underside of him before sitting back on her heels again, watching him closely. Daryl's eyes were closed, and his shoulders shagged before he fell forward onto the pillow beside her and choked out a laugh then rubbed his face into the material.

"Get your ass over here," he muttered and held up his arm so she could slide under. "You're a damned heathen."

Beth smiled, relief washing over her that what she did was okay, and immediately pressed herself into his side. "Ya love it."

"Didn't realize it was like that," he muttered, hiding his face from view.

"I don't think it always is," she whispered as she kissed his cheek.

"I know," he said quietly.

She wondered what he was thinking and feeling. If he was scared at how things had changed so much, or if he was just overwhelmed. She hoped for the second.

* * *

They laid in bed for a long while before Daryl nudged her shoulder. "We gotta get up and head out. Sooner we get there, the sooner we can know if it's worth a shit or not."

Beth stretched and stood up. "Then let's get goin'."

He watched her as she got dressed but never said anything, and Beth felt her heart sink a little with every minute that passed by.

Once everything was packed up and into the truck, Beth went through her room, picking up a few personal items she wanted to take with her that she didn't get to the last time they ran from the farm. Finally, with Daryl, holding her hand, she went into her daddy's room and over to her mother's jewelry box.

She opened the lid, and the ring was where she had always left it. Beth's hands trembled as she reached out to pick it up. Her hand hovered over it, but she couldn't make her fingers close around it. This was something so precious to her mom, but had been sitting in a box for nearly two years, untouched and basically forgotten.

How many lives had been regulated to that?

Forgotten.

Just one of many lost.

How many other jewelry boxes were in houses just like this one that were still safe, but all the memories that surrounded the pieces were gone with their owners?

As if he could sense her inner struggle, Daryl reached out and picked up the ring. Turning it over in his palm. "It's really nice," he said and brought it close to his face. "Amethyst."

"Huh?"

"That's what it is. Amethyst."

"Oh." Beth cleared her throat. "Now that ya say that, I remember her callin' it that."

Daryl picked up the hand closest to him and slipped it onto her ring finger. "Pretty good fit," he said quietly and squeezed her hand.

They left the room soon after, Beth not bothering to mention he'd put the ring on her left hand.

* * *

"Ain't never been good with women," he said as they walked to the truck. "Don't know how to do this."

"I think things are goin' great." Beth bumped her shoulder into his arm, happy that he was letting out the feelings that seemed to have been bothering him.

"Good." He nodded and adjusted his bow strap. "If it stops bein' that way, tell me."

She smiled at him and tried to kiss his cheek mid-step and ending up tripping. Daryl reached out and caught her, pulling her into a hug. They stayed that way for a few seconds before Daryl pulled back a little and kissed her quick and hard.

"I, uh," he let out a deep breath. "I love ya."

"I love you, too." Daryl grinned down at her and started walking again. She kept holding his hand as they closed the rest of the space between them and the truck sitting out on the lawn. It took two tries before the engine turned over, and they started moving down the gravel road.

"I'm gonna miss the farm," Beth said and laid her head against his shoulder.

"Umhm." He didn't take his eyes off the road, but he placed his right hand on her thigh and gently squeezed.

He'd miss it, too.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch. 11

Thank y'all again :) I really love reading your thoughts!

* * *

The armory was a lot deeper in the woods than he'd remembered. Not to mention, the dirt road that led to it was overgrown, and in some places, almost impassable. That's what led to Daryl's decision to drive the truck out there instead of walking. They hadn't seen walkers or people in a good long while, so it made sense that if it was still standing, it would be clear.

More than once, they had to get out of the truck and haul branches out of the way, and one time, they had to tie a rope around a thick limb then move it with the truck. It was an awful lot of work, but the result was rewarding. The cement wall was still strong, and it didn't look like anyone had been there in years.

They pulled the truck right up to the wall and climbed up on the cab to look over the area. It was overgrown in the yard with a single, one story building right in the middle. The whole area was about half the size of a football field, but it would have plenty of room for a garden in the spring and the armory itself looked solid.

The best part was there was nothing walking around the yard at all, at least from the front.

Beth hopped up on the wall, and his heart skipped a beat. "What the hell are ya doin'? It's a ten foot tall wall, woman."

Beth smiled. "Gonna walk around the wall and see what I can see."

He groaned, his instincts telling him to make her ass stay put, and he'd do the walking, but she was already standing up on the flat top. "Girl, ain't gonna be able to keep an eye on ya once ya go 'round back."

It was true. For a good bit, the building would cover her up completely, and that bothered him a hell of a lot.

"It'll be okay. If I start hollerin', ya come runnin'."

"That ain't even the slightest bit funny," he griped then waved his hand in front of his body. "Getcha ass movin' then."

Beth smiled and blew him a kiss as she started walking along the top of the wall. It couldn't have been more than a foot wide, but she stayed steady all the way around the corner then out of sight.

Daryl laid his head on the top of the wall and groaned. He loved her, wanted to be saddled with her for the rest of his days, but he'd be damned if she didn't twist him all up inside.

He was changed. His hands and mouth had touched her in places that he'd never touched a woman before. He'd been nervous and unsure, but she'd been so eager to have him there, pulling him over her or moving his hand right between her legs.

He swallowed hard.

It was new. All of it.

How did he act now? Was he supposed to change up his approach to her or just act like it wasn't a big deal?

Beth had changed a little. She had a glint in her eye every time she looked at him that made him think she had some kind of secret. And he guessed she did. She knew more about him than anybody else in the world.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, and prayed that he didn't say anything too stupid that morning. He'd been so caught up in everything, and he didn't want her to think he wasn't good at it.

Just about that time, Beth came walking around the other corner of the building smiling and giving him a thumbs up.

"All clear, Mr. Dixon," she called out. "A buncha high grass though, so I'd be worried about snakes and spiders."

"I can handle a fuckin' snake," he answered back and looked over the yard.

"Well, good, because I hate them and spiders. You're gonna have to be the man of the house when it comes to that."

"Thought I was already the man of the house," he muttered and looked down at the gate, barely registering their conversation as he thought of how to reinforce it.

"Ya'd do anythin' I asked," she said sounded smug as hell.

He looked up at her and lifted an eyebrow. "S'cuse me."

"I've got ya wrapped 'round my pinkie finger." There was a smile in her voice and in her eyes, but for some reason it rubbed him the wrong way.

"I don't do shit I don't wanna do, Greene," he said firmly. "Just 'cause ya sucked my dick doesn't mean ya can control me. _You _were the one bent over this mornin'—not me."

Beth's eyes widened, and she flushed the color of a tomato. He instantly regretted everything he'd said and looked down at his boots. Carefully, she climbed off the wall beside him and whispered, "I didn't mean it like that, Daryl."

He reached for her arm, but she pulled it away and said, "Let's see about gettin' inside."

Ten minutes of tense silence later, Daryl had gotten the rusted chains cut off the gate and the truck moved inside. Beth sat in the cab while he took a new chain from the farm and relocked it.

"Guess now we just see if the door's locked, and how to get through that," he said as he walked to her side of the truck.

Beth nodded and took her knife from her sheath as she stood up and followed silently behind him.

Daryl sighed. He wasn't sure what to say to make what happened right. She was just playing around and feeling happy, but he'd taken her words and screwed them around so that they weren't even what she'd meant.

_Fuck._

He shook his head and tried the door. It was locked, which was no surprise, and he didn't even have anything he could pick it with.

"Any other doors around the back," he asked as he started for the left side of the building.

"There's one where you're headed and double doors at the back."

Each of the doors was locked up tight and around back, he banged his head against them. "What're gonna do?"

Beth sighed. "Let's knock out a window. They're up high enough that nothin' can get in anyway."

He looked up and scanned the building. "Too little. I ain't never gonna be able to squeeze through one of 'em."

"I wasn't talkin' about _you_. Pull the truck around and let me go."

He bristled immediately. "Not a chance in hell. We don't know what's in there."

"We've been makin' tons of noise, bangin' on these doors and haven't heard anythin' from the inside. There were no tracks here, the gate was practically rusted closed. I'll be fine."

Daryl shook his head. "I don't like it."

"Ya don't have to like it. It's our only option right now."

He knew she was right, so he pulled the truck over and they both climbed into the bed of the truck. Daryl used the end of his crossbow to bash out the window then he cleared the shards away so she could slip through.

"Ya keep that knife out at all times, ya hear me?"

"Yeah, I got it." She nodded and began to put her legs through the window.

When her body was halfway through, Daryl cleared his throat. "'M sorry for what I said. I's just bein' an asshole."

"Well, I don't forgive ya right now," she muttered. "That was plain hateful, and this mornin' was beautiful, and ya just stomped on it 'cause ya got a little scared."

"I really am sorry," he whispered.

Beth sighed heavily. "I love ya, but I don't like ya right this minute," she said and pulled herself the rest of the way through. Daryl heard her land on the floor. "I'm all right. Meet me at the front."

Daryl peaked in and saw her scan the room with the flashlight. It was huge and open with bunks lining the walls and some in the middle. Then he watched as she turned and walked straight down the aisle toward some double doors that he imagined led to another hallway.

Without a second thought, he jumped from the bed of the truck and waded through the waist high grass to the front door. After a couple of minutes, he banged on it and called out her name. Just a few seconds later, he heard her scream, and his blood ran cold.

"Fuck," he yelled and ran back to the truck. He lifted himself up, but there wasn't any chance of him fitting through that window. "Beth!" He hollered through the opening, looking down the barracks toward the other doors, but she never came back out and he didn't hear her again.

Just as he was about to try and force himself through, Beth called his name from down on the ground.

"Sorry if I scared ya. There was a damn spider, Daryl. Big as my freakin' hand. I thought I was goin' to pee my pants."

Immediately, Daryl hoped out of the truck and pulled her into a hug so tight, she choked out, "Too much."

He backed away and shook his head. "Ya almost gave me a heart attack."

"Well, I almost had one, too." She waved him on. "Look at the inside. There's a few offices on the right side of the building, but the left side is all barracks. There's even kitchen in the very back."

"Why the hell did ya look for shit when ya were just supposed to be openin' the door?"

"Might as well clear things while I was in there."

"That's the stupidest shit I've ever heard. What if there'd been walkers in there."

Beth shook her head. "There was absolutely no reason to think that, and I was just tryin' to help. Ya can sweep it again now, too."

He nodded and tilted his head to the truck. "Can ya drive it around to the front while I take a look?"

"Yeah," she said and sheathed her knife. "Not a problem."

She was shutting the door when he caught it and stopped her. "Ya told me ya'd tell me if I sucked at this relationship thang."

Beth reached a hand out to touch his on the doorframe. Her voice was so soft and sincere as she asked him, "Why're ya scared?"

Daryl sagged and looked down. "I don't know how to act no more."

"Just act like before. We're still the same, Daryl. Only difference is that I've gotten to see ya naked and finally see what all the fuss was about when it came to makin' love. I want ya happy, and when I said that about ya bein' wrapped around my finger, I just meant that you're sweet on me. Just like I am with you. No big deal. No pressure. We're young and in love."

"_You're_ young," he grumbled and twisted his fingers with hers.

"And you're mine."

Daryl felt himself turn red then said, "I am, darlin'."

And just like that, they'd straightened things out.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

Thank y'all for reading and reviewing! I hope you like this one :)

* * *

Without a doubt, the armory was the nastiest place they'd ever stayed.

A thick layer of dirt and grim covered everything and all the mattresses were moldy. Daryl had said that they would go and steal a bed from a house soon, but only after they cleaned everything up and made sure living there was going to work.

His exact words were, "Ain't gonna be haulin' a fuckin' mattress out here only to get it nasty and then need to get another one. Might as well steal a bed frame, too, so it ain't on that cold ass floor."

Beth had rolled her eyes and went back to picking up the dorm room sized mattresses and gathering them in a corner.

"We're gonna need a broom and a mop and buckets of water, Daryl. And that's just the barracks."

Daryl chewed on his bottom lip. "This room ain't really gonna have a purpose, so let's clean the offices first and set up a bedroom then the kitchen."

"You take the bedroom, and I'll do the kitchen," she said and started to walk down the hall.

"Let's just clean it up together," he said and grabbed her hand. "We gotta go get water anyway."

"Is there a creek near here?" She asked, stepping toward him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Imagine so."

"Okay, well, here's what we do. We go through the rooms, pick an office to make our bedroom, clean it out as good as we can then do the same to the kitchen. After all that, we'll be ready for water then we can go get it and scrub it all down."

Daryl nodded. "Makes sense I guess."

They picked the back room as their bedroom since it was the biggest and then spent an hour or so moving the desk and dingy office chair out before using an old broom from one of the hall closets to sweep it.

There were a few spiders that Beth cringed away from and Daryl ended up squashing with his boot.

"Damn," he laughed loudly. "Ya've killed dozens of walkers, had blood and guts on your clothes, had Judith shit on ya before, but ya lose your mind over a spider?"

She shot him a glare and went back to sweeping. "I don't like spiders. I never have."

They moved to the kitchen next. It was in just as bad shape, but they dug right in, clearing off counters and opening up cabinets.

"Thank God we brought some cookin' stuff from the farm," she said with a sigh. "There's a vent," she pointed over the old stove, "maybe we could cook here and it would still go outside?"

"Doubt it," Daryl said and looked up through the little vent over the oven. "We'll have to cook outside or maybe get us a grill and just prop a door open while we cook."

"Ya think we could find a grill? And charcoal?"

Daryl shrugged. "Might just use wood. If it don't work in the grill, I'll pull the rack out and put it over a fire on the ground." He looked at her and grinned. "We'll figure it out."

For a couple of hours, they hauled water from a creek about five minutes away. They filled up the kitchen sinks and Beth went to work there and then he took a bucket of water to the bedroom.

They cleaned walls and floors with strips of towels they'd taken from the farm, mindful to keep a few for actual bathing. He got into the corners as best he could with the little rag, but some of the grim was just part of the building now and wouldn't come off.

By nightfall, they'd cleaned both rooms from top to bottom and were dragging.

"Want some beans?" She asked him through a yawn.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'ma take a look around the perimeter. Make sure I covered our tracks for the night and that we don't have any stragglers wanderin' around."

"Okay, babe," she said and kissed his cheek.

He watched, stunned, as she starting rifling through their food pack.

No one had ever called him something like that in seriousness. Carol had called him "pookie" a time or two just to pick with him, but Beth said that with affection in her voice.

He shook his head and grabbed his bow, moving for the door then up the hallway. He went out the gate, locking it back behind him then started through the dense underbrush around the wall.

It took him a while to get through all the overgrown bushes and broken limbs, so even though he was dog-tired, he was relieved. If it took him that much effort to get to the walls, walkers wouldn't stand a chance.

The sun had completely set as he locked the gate behind him and went back inside.

Beth had the kerosene lamp going in their room, and was straightening their sleeping bags, extra blankets, and pillows they'd gotten from the farm.

"Looks good," Daryl said as he entered the room and sat his crossbow by the door.

"It'll do for now." She grinned and stood up with her hands on her hips. "Tomorrow, I'll put all the kitchen stuff up."

"I'll go look for a grill," offered and started to tug off his boots.

"Can we do that together in the afternoon?" Beth looked at him carefully. "I'd just rather we were together until we get comfortable here."

He nodded and took off his vest. "That's fine by me. Maybe think of stuff we can look for, and we'll get up early and make a run of it."

Her smile made him realize he'd said the right thing, and he bent down to give her a quick kiss. The ease of intimacy still seemed so foreign to him, but there was a pull in his chest to do it anyway.

"Your dinner's on that little table." Beth pointed to one side of the pallet, and he noticed a little box that had been turned on its side to provide some room to sit stuff on. It was far from a table, but it would do for now.

"Thank ya."

He ate and watched her move around the room, changing into a pair of sweat pants she'd taken from her old room and a big t-shirt. He felt his ears heat up when she didn't bother turning around as she took off her shirt to put on the other one.

Everything about her screamed that she was at ease with him. This place was going to be home, and he was going to be hers, and it didn't matter for one second that she half-naked in front of him because he'd seen it before, and he'd see it again.

He wanted that same attitude. Desperately.

"How do ya do it?" He asked before he could stop himself.

"Do what?" She asked as she took her hair out of its ponytail.

Daryl shook his head and the silence caused Beth to look at him. He sighed. "You're takin' it all in stride. Us, this place. Ya just seem to move around the room like ya've always been here. Ya touch me like ya were born to. I don't—I ain't like that. Don't know if I can be."

Beth sent him a breathtaking smile and walked across the room to kneel in front of him. "Now, before I say the things I want to, ya have to promise me that ya won't get mean or storm out."

He tensed. "Don't think I'm gonna like where this is goin'," he muttered.

"Do ya promise?"

"Yeah," he said and met her eyes. "Won't go nowhere."

Beth kissed him then, slow and sweet before she sat back on her heels. "I'm eternally optimistic, especially since ya found me again. I'm a hopeless romantic who thinks that this between us was destined to be before we even met. We were put in just the right places and given just the right experiences to prepare us for this.

"I think maybe ya didn't have a good home life. Your daddy wasn't the nicest to anybody in your house, but ya look at us, and ya see everythin' ya don't wanna be.

"I grew up with a wild sister and a daddy that got drunk more often than not before he met my second momma. I've seen how love can change a man and bring him back from the brink, show him hope again.

"So," she sighed and took his hand and uncurled the fist he'd made. "Ya see what ya never had, and give me strength instead of takin' it away, and I see a man that needs a soft touch and bright light that I just want to wrap my arms around every time I see him. Since I'm so completely happy, ya can't help but pick up on it eventually, right?"

She kissed his knuckles and put his hand back down on his leg. "One day, you're gonna wake up, and it will be second nature to ya. The kisses and the hugs, the words, makin' love. And ya won't even be able to pinpoint when it all changed. It'll be like it was always this way."

Daryl kept his eyes on their hands, how her fingers twined with his and that little purple ring he'd put on just the right finger. He felt himself nodding, but he couldn't form the words yet, because what could he possible say to that? She was right about him and everything he didn't want to be and everything he hoped he could be.

Instead of speaking, he curled his body around hers, sharing his warmth and strength for the rest of the night.


	13. Chapter 13

Ch. 13

Thank y'all so much for reading and reviewing! I hope you like this one :)

* * *

"Beth, darlin', we gotta get up." He grumbled quietly as he pushed on her shoulder. "Gettin' all our shit today"

"I changed my mind."

Daryl laughed. "Ain't go no choice. We got the seeds from y'all's farm, but we need gardenin' stuff before someone else scavenges it, plus whatever food we can find, ammo, more bolts. Maybe some buckets to put up on the roof for collectin' water so we don't gotta keep goin' back and forth to the creek."

"After all that, we can rest?" She asked through a yawn.

"Yeah, girl, we can rest."

Beth snuggled against him. "That was the best sleep I've had in awhile. Guess bein' out so far in the woods and all the walls and chains on the doors made me not worry as much."

"Plus, ya were worn out," he said with a nod.

"That's the truth."

After she hugged him, she stood up and started to pull her hair back. "I get to wear those clean blue jeans again." She grinned as she picked them up off her bag. "Shame they're loose now. I wasn't a big girl before, either. I must look like a skeleton."

Daryl shook his head. "Ya look good. Not nothin' some good huntin' and scavengin' cain't fix." He pulled on his flannel shirt then his vest. "We'll head on back to that town we went through yesterday. Pick up as much as we can then try and settle in."

"Sounds good." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Lead the way, Mr. Dixon."

He got half way down the hall before he asked her, "Why do ya call me that?"

"You're gonna think I'm so ridiculously silly," she said with a blush.

"Go on," he motioned for her to continue then unchained the door and walked outside. She was quiet as he chained the doors from the outside to keep it secure.

When he turned to face her, she said, "Well, in those historical romance books, they'd always call their suitor or husband by his title, and I just always liked it. If it was a hundred years ago, I'd call ya Mr. Dixon, and ya'd call me Miss Greene."

Beth shrugged and walked to the gate.

"So, I'm a suitor then?" He asked, confused just a tiny bit.

"Obviously, I said that ya'd call me Miss Greene."

Daryl shook his head. "I don't get why ya like it so much, but would ya rather me call ya that than 'darlin'?" He asked finally admitting that the pet name had always been intentional.

"No way! I love 'darlin'. I was just explain' my reasons."

"Oh, okay," he said and unlocked the fence. "Just checkin'."

He watched her curiously for a little while before he finally gathered up the courage to ask, "Suitor sorta makes it sound like things might not be permanent, but that ain't the case here, right?"

He took her hand and rubbed his thumb over the ring he'd put there. A man could only imply so much he guessed.

Beth smiled up at him and pulled him toward the truck. "Daryl, we're very, very permanent."

He'd always thought men that trailed after a woman were pussies, but at that moment, he let Beth lead him to the truck with a shy grin etched across his face.

* * *

Just like any run, there were problems.

The small grocery store had about fifteen walkers inside, and Daryl didn't think it was wise to take them on. He could only reload his bow so quickly, and he didn't want Beth wasting any ammo or getting too close to them to stab them.

Then Beth got the bright idea of just letting one out at a time. And before he could say no, she pulled the door a little and one fell through. Daryl rushed forward and stabbed him and looked at Beth. "What the fuck?"

"We need food, and it's here. Get ready 'cause they're startin' to all move this way, and I won't be able to hold it when all of 'em press against it."

Daryl glared daggers at her but nodded, and Beth opened the door again. This time two got out before she could force the door back.

He shot one with his bow and stabbed the other.

"This ain't gonna work, girl. Ya cain't even hold the door shut with an extra one pushin' on it."

"Well, _you_ hold the door then, and I'll take care of 'em."

Daryl was sure his face looked ridiculous at that moment. "Have ya lost your damn mind?"

"I can take care of walkers, Daryl. Besides with ya holdin' that door, I won't get overwhelmed."

He cracked his knuckles and growled as he walked to the door and took her place. Before she could walk out to where he had been, he grabbed her arm and yanked her back to him, kissing her fiercely. Beth threw her arms around his neck and twisted her tongue with his, both completely lost in each other. At least until a walker slammed into the glass, breaking the moment. Daryl pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth and whispered, "If ya get bit, I'm gonna kill ya."

Beth snorted. "Not far from the truth there, babe."

Daryl's mouth dropped open and he shook his head. "Kill these bastards so we can get home. Think maybe I need to fuck some sense into ya."

"Is that a promise?" She asked, blushing.

"Just get ready," he mumbled.

For the next few minutes, Daryl would open the door and let a walker slip out and Beth would end it. When there was only one left, Daryl I unclipped his knife and opened the door just enough for its head to poke out then stabbed it himself.

"I was doin' good," Beth said with a sigh.

"Cain't have ya makin' my ass look bad killin' all the threats," he grumbled as they walked inside.

"Awe, did I hurt your ego?"

Daryl shot her a side-eyed glare and grabbed a buggy. "Go on then," he said, pushing the cart at her. "Do what women do best."

"If you're tryin' to get a rise outta me, it ain't gonna work," she said in a little sing-song voice.

He snorted and followed behind her with another cart. They went down the aisles filling their buggies up with whatever was left. It happened to be a good bit, too. Daryl figured most people must have seen the walkers up front, so they just kept on walking when they spotted the store.

By the time they had gone down all the aisles, they had a cart of canned stuff, noodles, rice, lots of dried beans. Beth looked over the cart with a nod then took the empty one from him and went to the aisle with baking stuff.

"I miss cornbread," he muttered as he walked past the mixes.

Beth stopped and kissed his cheek before turning to the spices. "As much as I love beans and rice and all those veggies, I'm loadin' down with stuff for flavor. Maybe ya could find the Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce?"

"Ya gotta point there," he said and immediately went to the next aisle where the condiments were and picked up bottles of hot sauce.

"Guess no one thought about this shit once everythin' went to hell," he said as he carefully dumped the glass hot sauce bottles into the buggy with the little boxes of Tabasco on top.

"Ya know," Beth said as she picked stuff off the shelves. "Ya cuss more around me now."

His cheeks flushed. "'M sorry," he muttered.

"Oh, it ain't a problem. I just think you're more comfortable with me so ya talk how ya normally would."

"Hmm." He looked around the aisle. "I'll go look for candles or lighters. Maybe batteries."

"Be safe," she called after him as he pushed the full buggy away.

"Always am."

After another hour or so, they bagged up everything and loaded it into the back of the truck.

"What else ya think we need?" She asked as she closed the tailgate.

"A bed," he said quietly.

Beth turned a light shade of pink as she looked up at him. "Where do we get that?"

Daryl shrugged. "A house on the way back?"

"Anythin' else to get?"

"A grill," he answered. "I wanna stop by a hardware store, too, and get whatever's on the shelves. Couple of buckets."

"Sounds like a plan."

They got in the truck, and Daryl pulled out of the parking lot onto the main street in town. Beth slid from the passenger side to the middle and rested her head on his shoulder. He turned a little and kissed her head before he said, "Ya sure ya ain't got anythin' ya really wanna pick up?"

"We should stop by a pharmacy," she said and placed a hand on his leg. "Try and get meds, just in case. The grocery store was pretty bare."

"Okay," he said quietly. "Hardware store, pharmacy, raid a house. And we'll look for food everywhere, too. Just in case."

Beth nodded her agreement against his shoulder.

With a plan in place, Daryl drove, hoping they'd get it all over with as quickly as possible.

* * *

Right at dusk, they pulled back in front of the armory.

They had a full size bed with the metal frame, bedding, several grocery bags of stuff from the pharmacy, including expired condoms. The hardware store didn't have much, but he took whatever was there to fix up the armory with, some buckets, and all their rope to set snares with.

They got real lucky and found a rifle and several boxes of ammo in the house they raided along with an unopened box of bolts for his bow.

Beth hopped out of the truck and undid the chain on the gate, so that Daryl could drive through. Once he was inside, she chained it back and they both started making trips unloading stuff.

When the bed of the truck was bare, Daryl rolled his shoulders and looked over the yard.

"I'ma head out for just a bit and try and kill us some dinner, okay?"

Beth nodded, but seemed just a little disappointed. "I guess I'll get everything put away and set up the bed."

Daryl scratched his jaw, wondering what was going on with her. "Ya need any help with that frame?"

"Nah," Beth said and shook her head. "Pretty simple. Just hook it together and there ya go."

"All right then, darlin'." He looked her over once more before he started to turn around.

Beth caught his arm and tapped a finger to her lips. "You're forgettin' somethin'."

A small grin crossed his face and he bent down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, which quickly morphed into something much more passionate, ending with him pinning her against the building, grinding into her.

"Don't wanna go now," he breathed against her lips.

Beth giggled and grabbed the front of his flannel shirt and pulled him toward the door.

"I's hopin' ya'd say somethin' like that."

As he stopped to chain the door, he realized this was what she had wanted all along.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch. 14

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm sorry I didn't get to answer your reviews for yesterday's chapter. My husband and I finished Christmas shopping for our girls and didn't get home until late. I did read every single one though! I might have walked around Target smiling like a total goof because of them, too.

* * *

The first weeks at the armory were good.

Daryl would head out early and set some snares or hunt then they'd both go out in the evenings to check them for food. Sometimes, Daryl went by himself so he could try and hunt for bigger game while Beth stayed back, taking care of things inside the walls.

Since their trip to the store, Beth had been keeping track of the days, and they hadn't seen one walker or living person in seven weeks. The relief that coursed through his body every morning that he woke up inside the safety of their home was amazing.

He could sense the changes in himself and knew Beth saw them, too. He would smile more, pick at her, tell dirty jokes that got her to blush. Daryl was more open with touching her and affection, and he didn't even hesitate anymore if he wanted her. He'd pick her up and carry her back to their little bed.

At the moment, though, he was sitting in a chair in the kitchen, watching her stir rice over the fire.

The door had to be propped open, but the grill did the job with wood, so at least she wasn't hunched over the ground outside. He was glad it all worked out, especially since it was starting to get colder.

Despite the weather, Beth was only wearing one of his long sleeved flannels that ended mid thigh, and every time she moved, he swore he could see her ass.

He was absently playing with the scruff on his chin, wondering if she'd be that dirty, to just walk around bare. He let himself imagine walking over to her, bending her over counter.

Daryl shifted in his seat and adjusted himself with his other hand, squeezing a little as he kept watch.

As she went to sit the spoon on the counter behind her, she missed, causing it to clatter to the floor and under the edge of the cabinets.

"Shit," she muttered and turned toward the spoon.

Daryl traced his bottom lip with his tongue as he watched her put a hand on the counter and bend over, shirt riding all the way up to show off exactly what she wasn't even bothering to hide.

He wanted to fuck her hard against the counter, but at the same time, he wanted her straddling his lap. Each option sounded like a dream to him.

When she went back to stirring the rice and putting on the lid, he undid his jeans and pushed them past his hips, releasing his dick and stroking it a time or two before he choked out, "C'mere."

She turned immediately and stared at him for less than a second before she was crossing the room.

As if she read his mind, she straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her hands into his hair. "Ya need somethin'?" She asked breathlessly and replaced his hand with her own.

He got the hint and slipped his hand between them to trace over her pussy. She was already wet, and he smirked. "Ya planned this."

Beth smiled but didn't answer. Instead, she leaned down and sucked his bottom lip into her mouth before pushing her tongue to slide along his.

Daryl's hands moved to her hips, and he picked her up over his cock and let her line them up before pulling her down on him. They both groaned into the kiss as Beth started taking little measure strokes, barely moving up at all.

Daryl whined and thrust up into her. "Harder."

"I'm afraid we're gonna break the chair," she laughed as she hooked her feet on the bottom rung and used her arms to help her move over him.

"Fuck the chair," he mumbled against her neck.

"Thought ya wanted me to fuck _you_."

"Ya got a dirty mouth." He sucked on the skin below her ear, and she shivered.

The chair started creaking with every down stroke, and both of them laughed when the back leg started to buckle.

Daryl grabbed her ass, holding them together and stood up, then shuffled them to the counter. He sat her on the edge and traced his lips over her jaw and to her ear as he began moving inside her again.

Neither one last much longer, especially when she reached down between their bodies and started fingering her clit.

When she came, she threw her head back, knocking it against a cabinet door. Daryl reached up and put his hand behind her head, rubbing it gently as he slammed into her a handful of times then stilled, spilling inside her.

He dropped his head to the center of her chest and tried to control his breathing.

"Ummm," Beth sighed. "That was every bit as good as I thought it'd be."

"It's always good," he responded and slowly pulled out. "Sorry 'bout makin' a mess."

Beth slid off the counter and a stood on her tippy toes to kiss him again. "Don't be sorry. I loved it."

He smiled a little then pulled up his pants. "Ya make me lose all sense."

"That just lets me know I'm doin' things right." She smiled and went to the rice. "This is done. Can ya move it to the stove while I go clean up?"

"Sure thang, darlin'."

He moved the rice and pulled out some of the leftover grilled rabbit and sat everything on the table.

For a moment, he let himself wonder about the others. How they were faring up in Virginia, but he tried not to dwell on it too much. They were strong and smart. If anyone could survive, it'd be them.

Daryl looked around the kitchen that Beth had somehow turned into a home and knew they'd never leave this place.

And he didn't mind that at all.

* * *

That first winter was a hard one, and while they were prepared when it came to food. They weren't when it came to clothes, blankets, or firewood.

The worst was when Beth got sick, and he didn't have anyway to keep her warm. She shivered under the comforter and blankets, and he put his long sleeved flannel over her t-shirt.

After he did that, he tried to chop down more wood but the only axe he found broke after the first few swings. Without a second thought, he went to their bedroom, where she was sleeping, and woke her up. "Darlin', I'ma be right back. Gonna go get ya somethin' warm, okay?"

She swallowed and cringed. "Okay." Her voice was hoarse, and she closed her eyes against the soreness. Then she fell back asleep before he had even left the room.

That day, Daryl went out on a solo run for the first time in a long time. He found a new axe, a fire pit from someone's backyard, and more blankets than he knew what to do with. Finally, he went through every house along the nearest street and gathered up all the coats and winter clothes and gloves he could find for both of them.

Once he was back, he busted out the high window to their room and taped up some screening then moved in the fire pit.

It'd be smokey as hell but it'd be warm.

He started a small fired with the kindling for the grill then added the single log they had left before he went off into the woods and started chopping.

It took him the rest of the day to get enough to last the week, plus he had drug up three little trees he needed to strip and cut up later. His hands were cold and stiff by the time he went back into the armory, but it had been worth it.

With the warmth and the food, Beth got better quickly, and soon, she helped cut wood and stacked it along one wall of the armory, too. She had to sneak out early, so she could beat Daryl to it, though. When he bitched at her for doing too much, she told him that he need to rest instead of trying to do it all on his own.

They agreed to disagree on that subject.

Over the winter, if they ever got bored, they would go look for silly things that they didn't really need but wanted, so by the time spring rolled around, they had added a small couch to the kitchen/dining area and some end tables. Books were on that list, too, and after a raid on the nearest library, they had enough to last a good long while.

Not just novels either. Books on gardening, canning, survivalist books, books on plants in the woods.

Once the weather got real nice, they spent days clearing the yard then tilling it so they could plant their garden. While Beth laid rows and rows of seeds, Daryl hung up wire from two poles to create a laundry line for her then went out hunting.

That night, they say at the table in the kitchen, eating and flirting. Once they were done, he checked the locks the doors and went to their bedroom where he found Beth sitting up on the bed wearing nothing but a smile.

In less than a year, they had built their lives up from having nothing but the clothes on their backs to having an honest to God home, and Daryl was so fucking proud every time he looked around it. But mostly, he was so in awe of her.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch. 15

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!

We experience a few short time jumps in this chapter. Just weeks this time, not whole seasons.

* * *

Harvesting a garden and canning all they grew was a pain in the ass.

Daryl had found all the canning supplies over winter, but the process was a hundred times harder without a stove. Beth spent hours every day boiling water on the grill in order to seal the mason jars with their vegetables in them.

While she was doing that, Daryl worked in the garden, weeding and picking the stuff that was ripe. Sometimes, he'd go outside the wall and hunt or check the snares, but the garden was their main priority.

For the most part, they had ran low on canned goods, but were still able to find dried beans in multiple stores while on runs over the summer, plus, everything that Daryl trapped or hunted. They ate well, and they were less stressed than ever, but probably the best part about living in the armory was they were so far out that they rarely saw any walkers at all near their home.

In the year since they'd been there, there had been sixteen walkers that Daryl had killed from the wall. They'd seen others while hunting, and of course, when they went on runs, but only a few ever made it as far as they were.

Even the ones in the towns were decaying and easy to kill. It didn't mean they wanted to get close to them, but it was easier to get away despite the fact they were moving in herds more and more.

On their last trip out a month before, her and Daryl had gotten separated by a group of walkers while they were out looking for food and tools. It wasn't that the walkers were fast, there were just so many that neither one could close the distance to the other without getting caught in the middle of them. The look on Daryl's face as he realized they'd have to run in opposite directions was heartbreaking, and she tried not to think about it.

_It was about ten minutes before she was able to circle back around and meet at the truck that was a few streets over. Daryl was already waiting and looked scared as hell. When he saw her, he took her into his arms and squeezed so tight she thought she would break._

_"It's okay, babe. I'm fine. Nothin' happened."_

_"Fuck this shit," he muttered. "No more."_

_Beth nodded and agreed with him as he pulled her into the truck. The whole way home she never let go of his hand, knowing he needed the contact. Once they got inside the gate, and he had locked everything back up, he drove the truck around back, put it in park and kissed her, laying her back on the bench seat._

_He practicality ripped her jeans down her legs as he twisted his tongue with hers._

_One of his hands slipped between her legs, testing her out, before pulling away and undoing his belt._

_"Get on your knees and hold on to the door," he growled lowly. His fingers entered her roughly after she did as he asked, and she heard his zipper slid down and then the rustling of his jeans. Hers were around her knees, leaving her little space to move at all._

_"God, Beth," he groaned as he pushed the head of his erection inside her. "It's gonna be fast."_

_Beth smiled against the truck door right as he pulled her hips back and thrust forward._

_The sound of skin slapping against skin filled the cab of the truck along with Daryl's groans that made her clench around him with every one that escaped his lips._

_When he came, he pulled her against him, pressing in as far as he could go and leaned over her body, his teeth clamping down on her shoulder and making her lose it completely._

The after part was sweaty and sticky, but so worth it, and she wondered if they should get separated by walkers at least one more time in their lives just to experience it all again. She was pulled out of her daydreams, though, when he barged into the kitchen, slamming down a basket full of peas on the table. "Darlin', I'm about sick of this shit right here," he muttered.

"Just imagine havin' to do this tedious shit," she said and nodded to the pot full of tomatoes that would go into several mason jars then into the boiling water to be sealed.

"Can't I just go huntin'?" He asked, and she smiled at the whining sound in his voice. "Get ya some nice rabbit. Maybe even a deer." He wrapped his arms around her waist and sorta shifted her from side-to-side as he kissed her neck. "C'mon, girl, ya know it sounds good."

"I know somethin' that sounds good, and it ain't a rabbit," she muttered and pushed her bottom into his crotch.

"We can do that, too," he breathed against her cheek. "Anythin' ya want, just get me outta that damned garden."

Beth shook her head. ""Ya can go hunt, but I gotta get this done today. We got so much left to do, and I feel like I'm gonna be cannin' for months, not days."

"I'll stay," he mumbled. "I'm just bitchin'."

She turned around and linked her arms around his neck. "Really, it's okay. Get out and stretch your legs, Daryl. I'll be fine. Ya've already picked more than I can prep today."

"Could go out and find another grill, and we could do more at once."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Ya could do that, but ya know I don't like it when ya go off on your own."

He nodded, and Beth watched his cheeks turn the slightest bit pink. Her worry still made him feel funny, and she knew it.

"I'll go get another grill and check the snares, okay?"

His mind was set, and there was no talking him out of it, so she said, "You'll need another big pot, too," she said and pointed to the one she was using.

He kissed her softly, and she leaned against him, humming as he pulled away.

"I'll be back."

"Be careful," she said and hugged him.

Beth walked him out and chained the door after she lost sight of him beyond the gate.

* * *

It was dark by the time she saw his headlights come up the trail, and she rushed out to meet him once he'd parked the truck.

"Did ya run into trouble?" She asked breathlessly.

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, but it looks like someone's settin' up a safe zone type place over in Newnan. Reminded me of Woodbury a little. Weren't people movin' around though. Sorta seemed like they were just puttin' up the walls."

"That's a good hour drive from here," she said quietly, wondering if that meant they would have to leave.

"Yeah, we're safe. Ain't got no reason to think they'll head out this far or even give a shit about two people in a small armory when they got a whole town."

Relief flooded her system, and she closed her eyes. "Did ya get stuff?"

"Sure did. Got us another grill, a big pot, got ya a full length mirror, too."

Beth smiled wide and hugged him. "Thank ya."

"Let's get on inside. I'm worn out, darlin'."

She looked over his face, and saw the tiredness seeping out of his eyes and the way his shoulders slumped. "C'mon, babe. Let's get ya to bed."

He took off down the hall while Beth chained the front door and went behind him. Inside the bedroom, he threw his vest and flannel down on the chair that served as his bedside table and tugged off his boots and jeans.

Beth watched him and her stomach fluttered at little at how precious he looked in those moments. So unguarded and vulnerable. When she laid down beside him just a couple of minutes later, he wrapped himself around her and sighed.

"Love ya, girl."

"I love ya, too."

He kissed her shoulder, and soon she heard a soft snore as he fell off to sleep.

* * *

It was mid-October by their guess, just about six weeks since the last time he'd been out, and they'd canned everything as best they could and put away the tomato cages into the barracks along with all the other gardening stuff.

It was real nice weather for that time of the year, so Beth and Daryl made the best of it by sleeping up on the roof of the armory.

The stars were beautiful overhead, and Beth held Daryl's hand between them on the sleeping bag. He was smoking one of his last cigarettes as he listened to her sing softly. All the while, she was feeling scared and little sick to her stomach at the smell. She knew what was coming and had tried to prepare, but there was none of that in the apocalypse.

When he stubbed out the rest of the smoke, he turned toward her and kissed her cheek, the scent of nicotine and ash causing her stomach to turn even worse. Beth closed her eyes and took several calming breaths before she could untense her body.

They'd been together over a year in this armory. They'd been well taken care of, and they were happy. They loved a lot, and she'd seen Daryl make strides beyond belief when it came to opening himself up.

And with just a few words, she could undo it all.

With another cleansing breath, she squeezed his hand and he looked over at her, catching her staring at him.

"I think I'm pregnant," she whispered.

His brow furrowed and he paled a little. "Why ya think that?"

"I'm pretty sick to my stomach a lot, tired, I haven't had a period in two months."

Daryl tried to smile, but it came out forced then he shook his head. "Darlin', you're tired 'cause ya run yaself ragged keepin' this place up. You're probably sick 'cause of the old canned food we're tryin' to finish off before we eat our good shit. And, ya haven't really had a regular period since we been here. Two months in a row don't count, I don't think." He kissed her hand. "'Sides, I almost always pull out."

This time instead of her hand, he kissed her lips and the leftover cigarette almost made her vomit all over him. Instead, she turned her head and nodded slowly. If he wasn't ready to admit it, she could wait. Soon or later, he would figure it out.

"Ya might be right," she whispered and looked back up at the stars, wondering just how this would all go down.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch. 16

Thank you guys for reading and reviewing! I'd love to see what you think of this one.

* * *

In the weeks following Beth's quiet confession, Daryl withdrew into himself. He wasn't nearly as touchy, and he knew she had noticed, but something in him was holding back.

On the outside, Daryl pretended to brush off her suspicions. Inside, though, he thought about her words all the time. They'd always pop up at the most random moment, too. He would be hunting or cleaning a kill, and the image of a little boy running through the backyard would flash through his mind. Chopping wood, he would think about what would happen if he wasn't prepared and his child was cold or hungry, or laying in bed at night, he would think about Beth dying because of him.

The only thing that kept him sane was that she hadn't brought it back up, and as far as he could tell, she was fine. Sometimes, he would catch her when she didn't know he was around, leaning against the wall or a counter with a hand over her mouth or asleep on the couch in the middle of the morning when she thought he was out hunting.

When he was around, Beth was constantly on the go. She would laugh and joke with him, too. They still messed around at first, but that stopped completely two weeks before.

He figured she was probably hormonal due to their situation stabilizing and her getting all the nutrition she finally needed to balance her body back out. At least, that's what he told himself.

It wasn't just them changing either.

The days were getting colder and shorter. Beth would stay inside as much as she could, and when he'd try and get her out, she would shake her head and say, "I'm a summer girl, Mr. Dixon. It's too cold for me."

He stopped pushing her and worked outside on his own while she did laundry in the sink instead of beside the backdoor like usual. When she was done inside, he watched as she hauled it all out to the line to hang it over.

Her cheeks were filling in more, and she looked healthy. The change had been subtle, and he had been so caught up in preparing for the winter that he hadn't fully noticed until that moment. For a minute, he let himself be a little proud that he'd managed to keep her safe and going strong then she stopped suddenly and leaned one hand against the side of the building.

Daryl watched her take a few deep breathes then she went right back to work. With his heart in his throat, he stood off to the side, hating the feeling that was coursing through his body.

After the laundry basket was empty, she spotted him watching her from him corner of the yard and smiled. With the basket on her hip, she walked toward him and said, "Were ya spyin' on me?"

"Just appreciatin' the view," he said quietly. His eyes scanned her face and realized it really was rounder, softer.

"Well, this might be one of the last times ya get to. It's gettin' too cold to hang 'em outside. We'll need to put a line up in the kitchen where it's warmer."

Daryl nodded and reached out for her hand. "I can do that for ya."

She twisted their fingers together and sent him a hesitant smile. "After dinner tonight, me and you need to talk."

"About what?"

Beth broke eye contact with him and looked at the ground, seeming unsure of herself. "Lots of things."

His heart skipped a beat, and he knew what it was. What he had been sticking his head in the sand to avoid. "Just talk to me now," he said, his tone was hard. "Ain't gonna be worryin' all damn day."

"Daryl," she spoke quietly, her tone reminding him of someone trying to calm down a damned animal.

"Go on then," he said and started chewing on the thumbnail of his free hand.

Without any hesitation, she took the hand she held and pressed it to her stomach, to a definite bump that hadn't been there a couple of weeks ago when he had made a play for her and got shut down. He pulled his hand away like he had been burned and backed up. They stared at each other in silence for several seconds before she whispered, "Ya gotta come to terms with this. I can't do it by myself, and it ain't goin' away."

His eyes moved from hers to her stomach. From where he was standing, he couldn't see anything. He wouldn't have even noticed unless he touched her. Instead of skipping, his heart started racing as he shook his head.

"I need to go check the snares. I'll be back before too long."

"Daryl, please," she pleaded with him.

He walked back into the armory, took his bow from their room, and headed out the back door where she was standing. She didn't try to touch him or make him stop. She just watched him go, a resigned expression settling on her face.

"Be careful," she said as he passed.

"Always am," he replied the same as every other time he left.

He knew she was following him, but he tried not to pay attention to her soft steps behind him. Once he was through the gate and had it relocked, she spoke, "I love ya."

Daryl stared at her for a moment, taking her how beautiful and pure she was and how he'd messed that up. How he might have killed her by acting like an asshole and thinking with his dick and not his brain.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, apologizing for it all. Then he took off into the trees without hearing her what she tried to say back.

* * *

Out of five snares, he caught two rabbits. One was scrawny, but the other was nice and would make a decent stew. Beth would need him to do better. Daryl took a steadying breath.

It was just them, and he didn't have the slightest clue what was to be expected or how to handle delivering a baby.

His chest was aching and his muscles tense. All of the anger exploded out of him, and he took off his bow and threw it before he slid to the ground and buried his hands his hair.

It was all his fault.

He acted on impulse and stopped thinking about consequences. Hell, he'd seen what happened to women that ended up pregnant in this world and their kids after they were gone.

Tears stung his eyes as he thought about what might happen to Beth, and what he might do if he was the reason she was taken from him or them, again.

"Fuck," he said through gritted teeth. "Ya stupid fuckin' piece of shit." He started beating his fist into the sticks and ground. With a final strangled sob, he stopped and began to cry with his back against the nearest tree.

Daryl let himself have his breakdown in the quiet. He wasn't sure how long he sat on that cold, hard ground, feeling the sting of cuts across his knuckles, but finally, he shook his head and wiped off his cheeks.

She didn't need him being all fucked up over this, crying and trying to make it all disappear. When he had pulled himself back together, he hauled his crossbow back over his shoulder and started walking back to the armory.

Beth was absolutely right; she wouldn't be able to do this on her own. She would need him to be solid.

* * *

Beth was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands when he walked through the door.

He took one step inside then stalled, not sure what to say or do.

"I got us some dinner," he spoke quietly. "Ya prolly should be eatin' more now." She turned to face him, and his heart clenched at the tear tracks down her cheeks, but she didn't speak. "I's wonderin' if I could have a sheet or two of your journalin' paper."

"Sure." Her voice was raw, and immediately, he pictured her sobbing while he was gone.

He laid the skinned rabbits on the counter, and Beth stopped him. "Can ya just cut 'em up for me? Put 'em in the pot, too. I just—I can't look at 'em or touch 'em right this minute."

She'd gone a little pale and turned away.

"Ya alright?"

"I'm sick to my stomach," she muttered. "I've been sick to my stomach for weeks."

"Ya shoulda said somethin'," he whispered.

"Ya didn't wanna hear it yet," she answered quietly and stood up. He watched her walk to her journal and rip out a couple of pages then toss them down on the table with her pen.

Once he finished cutting up the meat, Beth started the fire in the grill and added the broth and water to the pot of meat then she went and laid on the couch.

Her arm was tucked under her head and one hand was lying on her stomach. She'd been doing that for a while, but it just seemed so natural a position that he didn't think anything of it.

_Ya didn't want to think anythin' of it_.

Daryl sighed and picked the pen up. For the next several minutes, he wrote down a list of things, most important to least important, biting the end of the pen when he got stuck.

She never spoke and neither did he for the rest of the evening and through dinner.

That night as he lay down behind her, he realized that he hadn't been cuddling her like he used to either. He had been sleeping with his chest to her back, but he would leave a hand on her hip or thigh, never, not once, moving it to her midsection.

Tonight though, he slid his hand directly to where she had placed it early. The rounded part of her tummy was so small and delicate. He flexed his hand against the taunt skin there, imagining what was just beneath the surface. Daryl brought his head down to her shoulder and turned his face into her hair.

He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. They would figure it all out, and not a damn thing would go wrong, but there was no way he could promise that.

Instead, he pulled her a little closer and held on just a bit tighter. He couldn't promise her those other things but he could promise her something, "I'll try harder."


	17. Chapter 17

Ch. 17

I know I say it every chapter, but thank you all so much for reviewing!

And a special thanks to stateofgrace for giving this chapter and 18 a read for me. I truly appreciate it!

* * *

The bump had surprised her as much as it had surprised him the first time she realized it was there. She heard her momma once say that her friend just "popped", and now everyone could finally tell she was having a baby. She hadn't understood at the time, mostly because she was twelve and it sounded stupid that her stomach just suddenly swelled up, but now she knew what that meant.

She had been changing clothes in front of the dressing mirror Daryl had found for her, and when she saw it, her breath caught. She knew she was having a baby before that. She could feel it in her bones, but at that moment, it became real.

With shaking hands, she laid them on the small bump that poked out slightly from between her hipbones.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "You're really there."

* * *

The morning after Daryl's run into the woods, silence blanketed the whole armory, and Beth woke up alone.

She tried to stop the tears from coming, but that was useless. All she did was cry now, but only when Daryl was away. If he saw her boohooing constantly, it would probably make him think she had gone crazy.

There was a little piece of paper on his pillow, and she rolled to grab it. Beth blinked the blurriness out of her eyes to focus on the note.

_Needed a good head start so I left early._

_Be back tonight or tomorrow. Stay inside the wall._

"What're ya doin'?" She asked the empty room before flopping back on the bed.

She could only imagine what he had gotten into his head while hunting the night before. If he went on a run for baby stuff or medical supplies, or God forbid, to that town he said was set up in Newnan.

Daryl trusted people less than she did, so she tried to push that thought away. Then she remembered the scraps on his knuckles and bloodshot eyes as he had come back home the night before.

He blamed himself, and she was worried what he would try and do to fix it.

* * *

Daryl didn't make it back that same night, and for the first time, Beth slept in the armory alone. It was cold, but she had lit the fire in the pit before laying down in bed.

She wondered if they would be at the armory next winter, or if Daryl would decide that it was best that they follow the others to Virginia now that she was having a baby. She didn't want to leave though. This place was their home. She wanted it to be their baby's home.

She wanted that so much.

But there were so many things to worry about, too.

Labor. Delivery. Sickness. Starvation. Death.

Beth stared up at the ceiling and took a breath. "You're young. You're more healthy than ya have been since this all started. Ya gotta take care of yaself. Eat good and be safe." She paused and licked her lips. "You're not Lori. You're Beth and things will be good."

Her pep talk helped for all of ten seconds before she turned and noticed the crumpled paper on her nightstand, and everything fell apart again.

* * *

It was early evening the next day when she heard the front gate creak open. Her heart started racing because she hadn't heard the truck, so she took her gun and clicked the safety off before slowly peeking around the side of the armory.

When she caught sight of Daryl walking, her heart dropped. His bow was across his back, and he was covered in walker blood. There was a rope tied around his chest, and she traced it with her eyes back to a plastic bin he had been pulling.

Once the bin was through the gate, he turned and locked it all back up then faced her.

"What happened?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Are ya bit?"

Daryl shook his head and motioned to the bin. "It ain't much."

Beth walked toward him, but they stood awkwardly in front of each other. "I'll go down to thecreek and wash all this off after I get the stuff into the kitchen."

"What happened?" She asked again.

He met her gaze. "I's too late to help 'em. Barely got away myself. Just a freak fuckin' accident. Looked like their car popped a tire and they were tryin' to change it, but thenoise had brought down a shitload of walkers on 'em." He shook his head. "They didn't have a chance. Then they turned on me. I ran faster than I ever thought I could. Those people still screamin' behind me.

"Got far enough away. Then cut a walker open so I could blend in. The truck wasn't far from that car, and I'd be damned if I left what little I found behind."

"Daryl." She could hear her voice break, and she took a step forward but stopped when he held up his hands.

"Got maybe five miles from town yesterday afternoon, and the fuckin' truck ran outta gas. I'd been tryin' to syphon some outta cars in town, but they were all empty. A bunch of 'em burned out. I put all the important shit in the container and carried it for a while. Then I took the rope out to haul it easier."

"Let me finish bringin' it in," she said and reached for the rope that he'd untied.

"Nah, it's heavy."

She walked beside him as he dumped it by the door. "I'll be back here in a bit."

Beth tried to say something, but her voice wouldn't work. He had almost gotten caught in a herd, their truck was gone, and his voice sounded like he'd failed at everything.

After what felt like forever, Daryl walked through the kitchen door wearing wet boxers and carrying his clothes.

"Don't touch these, okay? I'll wash 'em. They got too much walker blood in 'em for ya to be messin' with."

"I can still help with things, Daryl. I'm not a invalid," she said as he went past her into the bedroom.

"Ya think for one fuckin' second you're goin' out there all knocked up, you're crazy," he muttered.

"Ya need my help."

"I don't need shit," he said harshly. "I need ya to stay here. I need ya to listen to me. If ya ever went outside this wall without me, or hell, even with me, and somethin' happened to ya, they might as well take me down, too."

Beth shook her head. "Ya can't survive on your own no more."

"I can't survive shit if you're gone. Done went through it once, Beth. It ain't gonna happen again. Already worried sick about this baby and what could go wrong there."

The downright terror in her eyes made her stop arguing. "Fine," she said and hugged him closely. "I'll stay inside."

Daryl wrapped his arms around her tightly, and he pressed his face into her hair. "I'm sorry."

"Everythin' is okay," she said and stroked his hair. "I'm okay. You're okay."

"Almost wasn't," he said. "Now, I'm gonna have to go out and find anotha truck and all that other shit I was gonna get for ya."

"We've got time, Daryl."

He hummed into her hair, but all she could see the slump of his shoulders as he had walked away from her earlier.

* * *

A little bit later, he brought the plastic bin into their room, and opened it up. The first things he took out were three grocery sacks.

"Those got baby clothes in 'em. I'll find her more."

Beth almost told him that this was a great start when he began pulling out books. He probably had ten in there, and he laid them at the foot of the bed.

"What are those?"

He didn't look up and mumbled, "Books about babies."

"Ya mean, we're stayin' here?" She asked, her voice full of happiness and relief.

That caused Daryl to stop and look over at her. "We ain't goin' nowhere, darlin'. This is just gonna be me and you. Is that okay?"

Beth nodded and felt her eyes tear up. "That's okay with me."

* * *

Winter passed quickly.

After Daryl's initial baby supply run, and the loss of their truck, he waited a couple of weeks before he packed up his backpack and went out again. He'd told Beth that he might be gone a few days since he would have to walk to town then look for a vehicle before he was able to get some supplies.

Before he left, he made detailed lists from the baby books on what they would definitely need. He almost took the midwife book with him, but at the last minute, he decided to leave it there with Beth. She knew why, but she refused to acknowledge it.

The first trip took a week, and she had practically worn a hole in the floor from all the pacing she had done.

While he had been out, he found an old phone book and looked up the address to every midwife in the area, since he figured they might have some stuff on hand without him having to enter a hospital.

He was right, of course, and after he'd found a Jeep with some gas and a few other cars to take some from, he went to all those offices. The haul was impressive even if it was small.

The second trip he took a little later in the winter didn't hold nearly as much medical stuff, but he'd gone out of his way to find baby clothes, blankets, and the portable crib that was set up on her side of the bed.

While he was gone, Beth spent nearly every second reading and re-reading the books he had gotten that first run. She had put it off for a while simply because she was too afraid to at first, but once she got started, she couldn't get enough information about what was going to happen.

She couldn't believe the detail that some of the books gave. The different stages of labor, the ways to overcome birthing pain and tips for a natural childbirth were all invaluable to her.

While she focused on natural birthing books and ways of dealing with labor pains, Daryl's favorite book was the midwife-teaching manual.

She had woken up many nights to see him, leaning back against the wall with the little kerosene lamp burning. He'd be chewing on his thumbnail and staring intently at the book before dog-earing the page, so he could go back to it later.

In a matter of months, Daryl became a wealth of knowledge about pregnancy, and if she curled over with the sharp stabbing pain in her lower belly, Daryl was right there with an answer, "It's round ligament pain. Read about it that book that's got that picture of the baby in the womb on the front." He picked up the book and thumbed through until he got to the part he must have remembered. "It's common," he said then read a few sentences from the book. "Everythin's good."

There were other books for after the baby arrived, too. A book about the baby's first year, the toddler years, and even a book about common childhood illnesses.

Daryl had thought of everything.

She asked him one night where he found them all, and he had just shrugged. After a little badgering, he finally admitted that he went to every bookstore and library he could find in a fifty-mile radius.

Beth kissed him then, and what happened afterward was something that hadn't taken place in a long time. It seemed like the more they got comfortable with what was coming their way, the better things got between them.

Daryl would smile more instead of getting lost into his head. He would wrap his arms around her stomach and read her little parts from the baby books that he thought were important.

Sometimes the love she felt for him overwhelmed her completely, and she wondered how in the world she could love someone more.


	18. Chapter 18

Ch. 18

Thank you guys for reviewing! I love reading them!

A warning for this chapter: This contains a birthing scene which goes into great detail.

It's the fourth section of the chapter, if you don't want to read that sort of thing.

* * *

When winter faded into spring, it became more and more apparent that Beth was right about when she was due.

When she turned her journal to April, Daryl seemed to stare at the end of the month like it was snake ready to bite him. It was intimidating, but she was also pretty excited.

She practiced breathing like the book had explained and created her visualizations for when she was in labor to help alleviate her focus on the pain. Beth would sit outside and feel the baby move around, kicking and stretching, and she would imagine holding him in just a few short weeks.

One book said that if she became one with her body instead of fighting the process, birthing would be so much easier. She had always thought she was a very relaxed person, so she figured she could handle that type of birthing style better than Daryl's very process oriented approach.

"Whatcha got goin' on, darlin'?" He asked as he sat down beside her.

"Just feelin' her move all around."

Daryl placed his hand on her stomach and grinned as she baby kicked when he would tap against her skin.

"Strong little thang. It must hurt when she catches your ribs."

Beth took a soothing breath just as one of those kicks hit her right where he described. It wasn't his fault, but she glared at him anyway. "If I allow it all to happen the way it should, my body will adapt to it."

Daryl side eyed her and shook his head. "Ribs don't adapt to gettin' nailed repeatedly. Trust me, I got some experience with that sorta thang."

"It's a pregnancy not a bar fight," she snarked.

Daryl narrowed his eyes, clearly pissed off. "Well, I'm so sorry that I don't buy into that hippie bullshit. Shoulda paid closer attention to the books I was tossin' in there 'cause ya done lost your damn mind."

Beth gasped as he stood up and left her sitting there. She glared at him as he walked back to the armory, but slowly it morphed into something else. He was wearing a gun tucked into the back of his jeans and his long knife at his hip. His cut off flannel shirt showed off his muscles as he strode away.

Anger to ridiculously turned on in split second. Pregnancy hormones drove her crazy.

If Daryl wasn't scared out of his mind all the time, she imagined they would probably just spend most days in bed. The bigger she got the more awkward it got, but he was a man willing to adapt, and the books all said it was okay, even encouraged it towards the end. Daryl made sure he checked that one early on.

Lately, they had been slowing down on that front for multiple reasons, only one of them being Daryl's worry. Most of them were her issues.

She was so completely worn out. Her feet and back ached. She was swollen, but not too swollen.

She monitored her blood pressure with a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope that Daryl had found at one of the midwife's houses. That all looked fine, though, and it seemed to make Daryl less stressed every time she checked it.

Then she would go and mark another day off the calendar, and he seemed to get lost in his head and the books a lot more. And she'd practice the breathing exercises and make sure everything was put in the correct spot for the delivery so everything would go as smoothly as possible for all of them.

* * *

The sound of thunder woke him up, but it was seeing Beth hunched over the side of the bed that kept him awake.

"Ya okay?" He asked and reached for her.

Beth turned to face him, and he knew she wasn't. He sat up and scooted across the bed then to kneel in front of her.

"I think I might be in labor," she whispered.

He put his hands on her knees and tried to calm his heart.

"Are ya havin' contractions?"

"Yeah. On and off all day, but the last two hours they've been really consistent."

Daryl tried to take her hand but noticed she was holding the stopwatch he'd swiped a week earlier.

"How close?"

"Every four minutes."

"That's good. We got some time to get stuff together." He helped her stand up and said, "Why don't ya walk around the room a little?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "That'd prolly help speed things along."

Beth eyes were wide with fear, and he leaned down to kiss her. "We're as prepared as we can be, darlin'."

"I know."

Beth paced the room as the storm outside picked up. Spring storms in Georgia had the potential to awful. Take into account all the noise, and the walkers would be riled up once it stopped.

His only hope was that Beth would have the baby while it was storming so loud. He doubted anything would hear her screams through the thick walls of the armory, but since he busted their bedroom window and had only been able to tape a thin piece of wood in its place, he worried.

Beth groaned to his left and he walked toward her, letting her lean against him until the contraction passed.

"They're not terrible, but it's not good either," she told him as she straightened up. "My back is killin' me so much."

Daryl squeezed her shoulders. "Sorry I don't got anythin' to give ya."

"I really think this visualization thang is helpin', though," she said with a tight smile.

* * *

Three hours later, she was crying and holding in her pain.

Daryl was a nervous wreck as he walked the room with her then went to get all the medical things moved beside the bed.

He had the hand sanitizer and gloves out and ready, along with the surgical blanket on the bed and lots of towels. The unopened clamps and scissors from the midwife's house were right next to the aspirator.

Another particularly bad contraction hit, making her back spasm as she hunched over. She tried to picture her daddy's farm and the beautiful pond that they fished in. How it was a lovely summer day and they were all together again.

Instead, a flash of lightening illuminated the room followed by a huge crash of thunder. Her vision was shattered, and she gave a sharp cry, failing to keep them in her throat.

Daryl was instantly holding her up.

"Don't hold that in, Beth." He moved her to sit in the chair. "Ya ain't gotta be pretend for me."

Beth sobbed as the contraction let up. "That book," she croaked. "It said the baby needs everythin' to be peaceful. That if I could just look past the pain, it'd be better for both of us."

Daryl's brow furrowed. "Well, ignore all that shit. Whatever bitch wrote that wasn't having a baby in an armory in the middle of the fuckin' woods durin' a thunderstorm after the damn dead rose up and started eatin' the livin'." He took her cheeks in his hands right as another contraction started. "I guarantee ya, this baby ain't gonna be fucked up because ya couldn't imagine a pretty beach while ya were pushin' him out."

Beth wrapped her arms around him. "I'm scared."

His hands clutched at her back as the contraction ended. "Me too."

* * *

In the end, her water broke while they were walking down the hall then things progressed fast after that. Beth had screamed and cursed his name. All the while, they worked by the lightening filling the room and the yellow glow of the kerosene lamp.

Somewhere along the way, they'd thrown out whatever Beth's book offered, and referred only to the ones he had read backwards and forwards.

It was like a switch had been flipped in his brain, and he was working on pure adrenaline and visualizing the diagrams and words he had been reading and staring at over the last few months.

When she cried out in pain and told him that she needed to push, he told her to wait. "If ya push too soon things can get fucked up," he said and reached for the hand sanitizer and gloves.

"What're doin'?" She asked in a strained voice.

Daryl didn't answer, couldn't answer really. There was no way he would have been able to explain what he had to do. He cleaned his hand the best he could then put on one of the latex gloves and felt inside her just like the midwife-teaching book had said could be done.

"This has got to ruin every sexual thang we've ever done," she groaned and covered her face.

"Huh?" He asked as he softly felt the solid head of his child. He could swear that she would have been dying of embarrassment if she wasn't already dying of pain. "I feel his head and she's face down just like the book said."

"Good. Get him out of me," she whimpered.

"Ya can push," he said and helped her brace her feet against the end of the bed.

Daryl had coached her just like the book he had read. He counted to ten in a shaky, thin voice at first, but as it went on and nothing seemed to be happening, he got more intense.

More contractions, more counting and pushing then finally he could see the baby.

"'S got brown hair," he murmured. "You're almost there, Beth. You're so fuckin' close to being finished."

On the next one, she screamed and bared down.

"That's it, girl. Just a bit more."

"If ya don't stop with all that calm voice shit, I'm gonna kill ya!" She screamed and fell back against the pillow.

Daryl would have laughed, but instead, he just stared down at his hands in complete shock.

"Oh my fuckin' God," he whispered. He reached over got the aspirator and sucked out the stuff from the baby's nose and the mouth. The rest of the head was covered in gross shit.

"Just another one, Beth," he said. His voice cracked a little, and he looked up at her. Her face was tense and her eyes closed.

On the next push, the shoulders slipped out, and then there he was.

A squirming, wrinkly mess with a set of lungs on him that rivaled his momma's.

He grabbed a clean towel and placed him in it. Then clamped the cord, waiting for the beating to stop in between before he cut it.

"Holy shit," he whispered. "Holy fuckin' shit." Daryl turned toward Beth and held up the baby a little. "Ya did it. He's here."

"Figures it'd be another Dixon man that would give me such a hard time," she said with a smile and tears in her eyes.

Daryl stood up and handed him over before smoothing the hair back off her face and kissed her. He stared into her tired eyes and said, "You're amazin'."

Beth closed her eyes and sighed. "So are you."

* * *

Beth ignored what was going on at the foot of the bed. She'd lost every single bit of modesty she had ever held onto when it came to Daryl, and there wasn't a person alive she trusted more than him. They knew back in the winter what was going to happen, and if they hadn't thought they could have handled it, they would have left.

She peeked over at him as he moved around the room, cleaning stuff up and throwing bloody stuff into a trash bag to burn later. Changing the bed sheets after he helped her to the chair then getting her back into the bed once he was done. He seemed completely unfazed just by glancing at him. The only thing that gave him away was how his hands were shaking.

Beth looked down at their son and smiled. He had lots of dark brown hair and really needed a bath, but they both wanted to wait until they got some water warmed up.

The storm continued on outside, but everything inside was calm.

"Hey there, baby boy," she whispered as he looked up at her, staring intently.

He was just perfect. Little hands and feet. A little nose and his lips were shaped like hers. His hair was dark like Daryl's, and she'd bet anything that his eyes would stay that dark blue.

"He good?" Daryl asked quietly. He stood across the room with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Daryl had cleaned up himself while she was off in her own world, smiling down at the baby and just feeling crushing relief. He was in a fresh pair jeans, a cut off flannel shirt, and his hair was wet like he had dumped water over the top of it then pushed it all back.

"Got water heatin' up for him."

Daryl seemed so shy in that moment, and she wasn't sure why. "C'mere," she said with a big smile. That was all it took and he crossed the floor to sit beside her on the bed.

"Do ya wanna hold him?" She asked and dipped her head to the small child who was now sleeping in her arms.

Daryl nodded and slipped his hand under the baby's head and one under his bottom then lifted him from Beth's arms.

"I's the first thang he ever saw," Daryl whispered as he looked down at their son.

"Are ya okay?" Beth asked and leaned against him. "I don't think either one of us expected it to be like that."

Daryl chewed on his bottom lip and shook his head. "I don't think I'm ever gonna be okay again."


	19. Chapter 19

Ch. 19

Thank you all so much for the great response to the last chapter! I appreciate every single review.

* * *

The first few days after the baby was born seemed like a blur.

The whole experience of post-birth problems was dragging Beth down. Between the seemingly heavy period and emotional roller coaster, she was ready for things to even out.

Everything else was perfect though. The baby nursed well and slept as much as could be expected. Daryl was always there to help her or just there to sit with her and watch at the baby.

They had been sitting on the couch while dinner cooked a couple of days after the birth, and she had cleared her throat, causing him to peek up at her through his shaggy hair. An easy grin parted his lips, and his eyes just looked so happy.

She'd started crying right then, and he pulled her into a hug, careful of the baby between them.

"Thank you, Daryl," she whispered through her tears. "I love ya so much, and ya were so good durin' all of it. Ya made me feel so safe, ya took care of him. You're such a good man."

And he was, he held her until she pulled it back together then he kissed her. "I love ya, too. And I love him. You're strong as hell, darlin', but I don't wanna ever do that again, okay?" Beth started laughing through what little tears was left. "We'll be a whole hell of a lot more careful," he said quietly.

They had dinner together at the little table while the baby slept in the crib beside them.

"What do ya wanna name him?" Daryl asked as he tilted his head to the side and looked down at the boy.

Beth sighed. "I don't know. Nothin' I thought about fits him now that he's here." Daryl gave her a look that said bullshit, and she shrugged. "I really like Milo."

"No," Daryl said with a laugh. "Next?"

"Carter?"

Daryl shook his head.

"Sawyer?"

He narrowed his eyes in her direction, and she knew he liked it. "That's a last name."

"Well, you tell me then," she said and spooned some beans into her mouth.

Daryl fidgeted uncomfortably under her stare and shrugged. "I's thinkin' maybe Rick."

A silence stretched between them for several seconds before she nodded. "Okay."

"We can call him Sawyer, though. Plenty of people go by their middle name, right?" he asked quietly and moved his food around his bowl without looking at her.

"I'm good with that," she said then paused. "Do ya wanna go find them?" He missed his friend, and Beth missed her family, too. They had just gotten so settled that the thought of leaving made her feel scared.

"Nah," he said softly. "It's been a while. If they were comin' back they woulda." For the first time since they separated, she felt true guilt that she had made him do something he didn't want to do. "If we were gonna find 'em, we'd have done it when ya first found out about him."

"I'm sorry," she said and reached across the table for his hand.

Daryl smiled at her then down to Sawyer. "Don't be, darlin'. I ain't ever been happier."

* * *

When Sawyer was three weeks old, they decided they needed to get started on the garden. They were starting late, but the way the summers ran long, they knew they'd be okay.

Daryl was tilling the ground up again, and Beth was holding Sawyer in his sling as they walked around the backyard.

It wasn't a real sling, to be truthful. She had just taken one of Daryl's long sleeve flannel shirts and tied the sleeves into a strong knot then tied the bottom together and button up some of the buttons.

The end result was a little cross-body baby sling that she thought was precious.

"He likes it," she had told Daryl when he raised an eyebrow at it. "He's warm, close to me, and it smells like you. This is his happy place."

Daryl had shook his head, but she could tell by the small smile that she had won him over.

She didn't mention that it also helped keep both of her hands free so she could help. Daryl wouldn't have liked that one bit. He was always in protector mode, but since Sawyer arrived, it had increased by a thousand.

She loved him and his honorable, provider side, but it took both of them to make the armory run. Daryl knew that, but he hated the thought of her running herself into the ground. He didn't realize that she didn't like the idea of him doing the same much either.

Without telling him what she was doing, she went to the barrack door and unlocked it, then carried the tomato cages out one at a time, and the markers. The whole time singing little songs to Sawyer and looking down at him when she was walking back into the armory.

His eyes were so pretty, and when she sang, he would focus all his attention on her. It made her heart feel so full.

On the last trip out, she heard Daryl muttering something about her just needing to take the baby back inside.

When she sat down the last tomato cage, she said, "I'm gonna go let him nurse. Ya good out here?"

Daryl nodded and kept at what he was doing. "I'll be in there in a minute."

When she got close to him, he stopped working and looked up. She tapped her lips and gave him a smirk. Daryl sighed and stood up tall, pretending to be more exasperated that he actually was.

She popped up on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips. When she started to pull back, he wrapped a hand into her hair and deepened the kiss. After breaking apart, Beth bounced a little on her toes. "Well, then, I don't know what I did to deserve that, but let me know so I can do it again."

Daryl shook his head and sent her a crooked grin. "Go on."

He didn't get right back to work though. He stood with his arm propped up on the hoe, watching her until she walked through the kitchen door and they lost eye contact.

Once she was inside, she walked over to the couch and got situated. Sawyer was a good baby when it came to nursing, and she was so happy about that. It would have made things terrible had he not taken to it.

She really loved the closeness involved, too. Sometimes it floored her to think about it. She was providing his sustenance. Something her body made was fueling the growth of his tiny body.

Beth traced a finger over his cheek as he nursed and watched as he curled his hand into a tiny fist and laid it against his cheek.

He was so precious.

"Ya want me to get ya some of the squirrel?"

Daryl's voice startled her and she jumped a little, causing the baby to jump, too.

"Sorry," he mumbled as it stood in the doorway.

"It's okay." Beth patted the cushion beside her. "I could definitely eat, but only if ya sit beside me."

"I can do that."

He moved around the kitchen and got their small lunch together.

When he sat down beside her, she immediately took a little strip of meat.

"Ya think ya need more food?" Daryl asked and squeezed Sawyer's foot gently.

She shook her head. "I think I'm doin' really good. He seems to be gettin' full and he's growin'."

"He is," Daryl said softly. "Not a whole lot, but I can tell."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, Beth only stopping to switch Sawyer to the other breast.

"You're good with him," Daryl spoke softly.

"I worry that I might be terrible at it," she admitted as she looked up at Daryl.

"Ya ain't." He kissed her cheek. "You're perfect."

Beth shook her head and spoke through yawn. "I seriously doubt that."

Sawyer chose that moment to pull away and start fussing.

"Let me have him," Daryl said and held out his hands.

Beth transferred him over, and Daryl laid him against his chest and started patting his back.

"Ya go and lay down," he said to Beth and nodded his head toward the bedroom. "Ya ain't been sleepin' well at night."

"Neither have you," she argued and curled up on her end of the couch.

"I ain't never been a heavy sleeper." Beth raised an eyebrow at that, remembering the way he'd slept against her when they were with the others. "That was only a few times," he muttered, suddenly shy.

"Uh huh." She covered another yawn with her hand.

"Just sleep," he ordered right as Sawyer burped. It was such a small sound, and it made her smile.

"Okay." She said and closed her eyes.

* * *

Daryl watched over her for a second, patting Sawyer's back some more. It was nervous fidgeting more than needing him to burp again.

"I'ma lay your momma in the bed," he said to the baby like he understood. He found himself doing that a lot, which he thought was so strange seeing as how he wasn't a talkative man to begin with. He felt the need to fill the silences when it was just him and Sawyer, though.

A few days before, Beth had been hanging up laundry, so she had wheeled the portable crib over to the kitchen door. When he got back from hunting, he sat on a chair beside the crib then proceeded to skin the rabbit he had caught, detailing exactly how to field dress the animal.

Beth hadn't said a word to him about it, but he caught the way she smiled as she passed. He also saw the tears on her cheeks.

He knew she wasn't mad or sad though. She'd been having lots of "happy" tears recently. Daryl remembered from the books that it was normal, but he hoped it would stop soon.

She loved him and the baby, but the way she looked at them when they were together was something that went beyond love.

The three of them survived as a unit now. They needed one another, offered things to their little group that no one else ever could.

Beth would argue it was him that held their family together. Daryl would say it was her, but he had a feeling that it was Sawyer.

"Ya lay down for a bit, Bub." He fussed a little once he laid him down, but Daryl patted his tummy and walked to Beth.

He slipped an arm under her shoulders and one hooked under he knees. As he lifted her, she mumbled a little, but stayed out. Daryl laid her down in bed and covered her up, stopping to kiss her forehead softly.

She had broken down when she thanked him after the birth, and he hadn't known how to react. Part of him wanted to scoff at her and tell her that he was the only one there. He was just doing what was required of him.

That wasn't the truth, though. He could have loaded her up and took her straight to Virginia when they found out, but he wanted it to just be them. He wanted to take care of her and the baby, and if for a second he didn't think he would have been able to do that, he would have found someone that could.

Once he had taken care of Beth, he went back to the kitchen only to find Sawyer sleeping, too. The baby book said that when they were first born like that, they slept a lot.

Daryl chewed on his thumbnail as he looked down at the boy. He probably could have used the rest, too, but there were things that needed to be done, so he checked the other two doors to make sure they were still locked then left the kitchen door open so he could hear if he woke up before Beth did.

"I'm gonna go finish up outside," he whispered and reached out and touched Sawyer's hand. "I'm just right out the door."

Feeling a bit hormonal himself, he took off out the door and into the sunshine.


	20. Chapter 20

Ch. 20

Thank you for reviewing and continuing to read!

I appreciate it so much, along with the votes that this story has got over on Tumblr for Best Coda Fix-it fic!

* * *

Once the garden was planted, they focused on watering it and getting the canning stuff all clean. They wouldn't need it for a few months, but it didn't hurt to have things in place.

Daryl would hunt, and she would clean.

He would go out on a run, and she would wash their clothes and Sawyer's cloth diapers.

When Daryl had brought the boxes of them back from a run right after he was born, she looked at him like he was crazy.

"They didn't have any of those throw away kind. All they had were these with the different weight sizes on the box. I got all of 'em," he said and went to retrieve the rest.

When he had finished carrying in all the stuff, she looked over it all and said, "I have no idea how to do this."

"Ain't so hard," he said and pointed to the side of the box. "S'got instructions."

Beth looked over it, and after a few terrible accidents where she hadn't put the diapers on in just the right way, she got the hang of it, and so did Daryl.

She watched as he changed Sawyer one morning, talking to him as he did. "These are the high-end diapers, Bub. One box of those bastards cost nearly a hundred and thirty dollars before all this shit. Said so right on the shelf." He shook his head and Sawyer made a noise. "That's just stupid."

Beth wrapped her arms around his waist and hid her grin in his back.

"Beth?" He called out her name and she realized she was grinning again just thinking about it.

"Yeah?" She asked and stuck her head out the kitchen door.

"I'm fixin' to go check the snares, okay?"

She nodded. "Sure, babe. Be careful."

"Will do."

An hour or so later, she heard his raised voice from the front of the armory. She grabbed her gun from one of the drawers in the kitchen, and softly closed the door so Sawyer would wake up, then locked it.

"Who the hell are ya?" She heard Daryl's agitated voice over the pounding of her heart in her ears.

She peeked around the side of the building and there stood Daryl on the opposite side of the gate, his crossbow raised at two men she'd never seen before.

"We don't mean no harm!" The younger man said and held up his hands. "We thought there might be some weapons."

"Ain't shit like that here," Daryl growled.

"Okay. Okay." They started to back away.

"How'd ya find this place?" He asked stepped toward them.

"Some old man in our community said there used to be a National Guard armory, so we decided to look."

"Ya all alone up here?" The second man asked and looked over Daryl. "We gotta safe zone over in…"

"Newnan," Daryl finished. "Yeah, I know. Ain't ever seen a safe zone actually keep anyone safe, though."

"We're buildin' back up," the man said again. "We could use a man like you to help keep it secure."

"Ya don't know a damn thang about me." Daryl's voice held a sharp edge. "Get the fuck outta here and don't come back."

"Listen, mister," the younger man said. "We got medical care, food, safety. Hell, we even got wires now to communicate with other safe zones. Ya ain't gotta stay out here by yaself no more."

It was then that she realized they must have thought he was crazy or feral. Beth knew he would hate it, but she stepped out into the open.

"He ain't alone," she called out, and all three men turned toward her. Daryl looked like he was ready to strangle her. "We're fine right where we are, but what do ya mean 'wires'?"

The young man gave her a thorough once over, and she was sure that he was about to catch a bolt in the eye when the older man started speaking and drew their attention.

"Up near Alexandria are a few safe zones, and they got communication up between them, and after a group of us moved down here, we got it up, too. Pretty much Morse Code, but we can keep in touch."

Beth saw all the questions in Daryl's eyes, and she knew she was thinking the same thing. "Can anyone send a message?"

"Ya got people in Virginia?" The young man asked.

"Nah," Daryl snarked. "We just wanted a pen pal."

"Anyone can send somethin'. Ya just gotta go up there and write it out and tell who it's to. Ain't no guarantee that whoever your sending it to is alive though, especially if it's been awhile." The older man held out his hand. "I'm Charles, by the way."

Daryl stared at his hand and shook his head. He wasn't going to drop his bow for a second. "Daryl."

The young kid spoke up, "I'm Tyler." Then he looked to Beth, waiting for her to speak.

"Beth," she said quietly.

"Ya can follow us if ya want to send your message," Charles said to Daryl and nodded to their truck.

"I'll be around," Daryl said. "I know where Newnan is. Saw the walls go up myself."

"And ya never came?" Tyler seemed so confused by Daryl's actions.

"Didn't want to."

* * *

Daryl ended up following the men through the woods to make sure that they really left. Then he went back to the armory, got the Jeep and took off toward Newnan.

Beth hadn't been happy, but Daryl had told her plain and simple that her and Sawyer were to stay inside the walls. If it turned out that Newnan was okay, she might get to go once Sawyer was older, but there wasn't a chance in hell that they were getting their baby around a bunch of people they didn't know nothing about.

Without a doubt, she hated being told what to do, but she listened and glared as he drove off.

Once he was about half a mile from the town, he pulled over and left the Jeep in the woods and walked the rest of the way.

There were men with guns on the wall, just like Woodbury, but these men ushered him through the gate, and took him to an entrance facility. He gave a lady his name and cut her off when she started asking about his age and overall health.

"Ain't stayin'. I just need to send a message."

The lady shifted a little at his rudeness but kept a smile in place as she said, "Well, you'll have to talk to Cale about that. He's over those operations."

"Point me the right way."

She seemed unnerved by him, so instead of trying to get more information, she called over one of the wall guards to take him to the wire room.

Everything reminded him of Woodbury and little bits of Terminus, but the people didn't seem to have any ulterior motives. They appeared sincere in their desire to help him, and that threw him off.

Once they got to the communications building, the man in charged introduced himself and asked him the standard questions about how he had been surviving, and if he wanted to move into their safe zone.

"Listen, I ain't stayin'. I just wanna send a message to a friend that headed up that way about two years ago."

"I was in Alexandria for a long while. I know a lot of people. Maybe I know yours." He seemed like a sincere enough guy. Clean cut, hall monitor type.

Daryl eyed him up and down before speaking. "Rick Grimes."

The man's eyes narrowed and he looked at Daryl more carefully. Seeming to assess him in a new light.

"I know him. Y'all knew each other before all this?"

"Nah," Daryl shook his head. "We were together for awhile after, but the majority of the group wanted to head north and me and my wife wanted to stay."

"Rick's still alive. He's tough as hell, too," Cale said and nodded toward the desk. "Think it was his idea to send a group down to Georgia in the first place."

"Hmm." Daryl scratched his jaw. "What about his boy and daughter? The other people he was with?"

Cale shrugged apologetically. "Last I heard they were alive, but that was a year ago. We don't relay info like that. I know Rick's still alive because they've got lots of issues going on with a neighboring settlement, and we get updates."

"What're they fightin' over?" Daryl asked, his brow furrowing.

"Land, crops, weapons. If the rotters aren't a problem for awhile, they find something to bitch about." He slid over a sheet of paper. "Write down your message, and I'll send it. May take a while to get a response since shit's up in the air for them."

Daryl nodded and wrote on the paper.

_Rick Grimes:_

_We're safe. Near Newnan safe zone. Daryl, Beth + little one._

Cale took it and read over it. As he began making the clicks with the coding device, he asked, "You have a baby?"

Daryl hummed in response.

"Good luck. It's tough out there."

"If it's one thang I know, it's how bad shit can get outside."

Cale nodded, and Daryl took a step back. "I'll be back in a few weeks to see if there's an answer."

"Okay. You should know that you and your family are welcome here, Daryl. It's safe, and we're not looking to hurt anyone. We really just want to rebuild the world."

Daryl shook his head. "We're happy where we are."

Cale held out of his hand, and Daryl shook it. "I guess we'll see you in a few weeks then. Bring your wife and baby, and you can stay for dinner."

Daryl snorted. "Beth's not gonna change my mind. Hell, y'all ain't gonna change her mind either, but ain't one to pass up a free meal."

* * *

Daryl went back six weeks later and there was no answer to his message. Six weeks after that, still no response.

He knew that Rick was still alive just from what Cale had said, but maybe Rick had decided that the message he sent didn't warrant a response. That it was just a heads up that things were still okay, and since Daryl was able to send it to him, Rick figured he already knew he was alive anyway.

Beth never came with him to Newnan, but he would always bring her back a meal that someone had fixed for him. Most trips he would barter a few rabbits for a new shirt or sweater for Beth, and a toy or clothes for Sawyer. Once, Cale gave him a new pair of boots that he really appreciated and almost didn't take since they were so nice.

"Nah," Cale had said and waved him off. "You take those. You've done a lot for some of the people here just giving them food when we were running low."

"Didn't give shit. That was trading."

Cale looked at him and shook his head. "It's a damn shame that you won't stay here. We could use a good man like you."

That had been his last trip back to the safe zone, and Cale had known it. The Jeep didn't have much gas, and he couldn't find any vehicles to take any from. Cale and the safe zone were in the same boat. They only had enough to make an escape if things went south.

Daryl had shaken his hand and thanked him for his help, and they had parted ways.

It was several months later, when Sawyer got sick for the first time, that Daryl practically ran the entire way to Newnan. When he got there, the wall was busted down and most of the buildings had been burnt. There were bodies all over the ground, and a few walkers milling about.

His heart dropped, and he didn't even know what to do for several seconds. Finally, he slipped along the edge of the buildings and into the make-shift hospital at the very end of the main street.

He killed several people inside that had turned, and eventually made his way to the medicine cabinet.

It was empty.

With a heavy weight in his chest, he went to the wire station, and carefully opened the door. It was quiet, and he knew that no one was left in here. What he didn't expect was to find Cale at the coding device, bullet hole straight through his forehead, and two in his back.

Daryl figured he had been signaling for help or that the safe zone had been lost. It must have been an inside job, since they knew where they would find Cale and they took all the meds.

After he went outside, he looked and saw that all the trucks were gone, too.

The trip home was much longer than his mad dash to get there.

* * *

Over the next few days, Sawyer's fever broke on its own.

He was in the portable crib, and Beth and Daryl stood over the edge of it, looking down on him.

"Nowhere's safe," she whispered. "All the good people die."

Daryl wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. "We're still here."


	21. Chapter 21

Ch. 21

Thank you again!

Sawyer was one at the end of the last chapter. He is three here.

* * *

**Two years later**

Time passed for them more quickly that it did before they had Sawyer. Used to, they'd spend their free time messing around or sitting up on the roof. They still messed around, but after they were sure he was asleep, and neither one of them ever dared go up to the roof.

That little boy wasn't to be trusted at all.

He was the reason that there was plywood over the gate to cover the slats.

A few weeks earlier, they were harvesting the garden and letting him help pick stuff with them. Beth had gone to put the peas in the kitchen, and Daryl had turned his back one-second, and when he turned back around, Sawyer was gone.

He had called out his name, and Beth had come out of the kitchen at the sound. They both rushed around the place, and up to the front yard just in time to see him squeezing his little body in between the metal slates.

"Sawyer!" He hollered and took off running. They hadn't had a walker in months, but it would be their luck one would show up right in front of them, so he sprinted faster. "Get back here now!"

"No, sir! Stop right now." Beth yelled as he stopped and looked back at them with a grin then crossed through the gate to the other side.

He almost had a fucking heart attack and instead of trying to fiddle with the lock, he climbed the damn gate like some kind of crazed man and landed on the other side right as his son tripped and face planted into the ground.

Sawyer cried and reached for Beth who looked like she was close to passing out.

"Ya can't do that, Bub. Can't go outside." Daryl looked down and tried to catch his eyes, but he was little and knew he had done something wrong, and he hurt himself on top of that, so he buried his face in Daryl's chest. "It's okay. Momma's gettin' the gate opened."

When they got back in the yard, Beth took him and hugged him close as Daryl relocked the gate.

After they got him to sleep that night, Daryl laid down on the couch with his head in Beth's lap and said, "Gotta get somethin' to cover the gate with."

"That's a good idea," she said and ran her fingers through his hair.

He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. "Wanna go fool around?"

"Are all the doors locked and chained?" She asked with a grin.

"Of course they are," he mumbled and pulled on the end of her ponytail, so she would lean down and kiss him.

"Momma!" His voice screeched through the kitchen. "Why kissin', daddy?"

"'Cause I love daddy," Beth said with a sigh. "You're supposed to be in bed, little man."

"It's dark, and I scared."

He wanted to say there wasn't anything to be scared of, but that was a lie. Instead, he sat up and helped Beth stand. "We'll all lay down then," he said and picked up Sawyer before walking back into the bedroom.

They laid down on the bed with Sawyer between them and after a few seconds of silence, he said, "Momma's tummy." He scooted down and laid his head on her stomach. "Ya sing the pretty song, momma?"

"Just once, okay?"

He nodded and yawned.

Beth started singing a song that her momma had sang to her when she was little. Normally, all she had to do was twirl a strand of his hair around her finger, sing the song, and he would be out like a light.

Daryl peeked down at his boy once more then closed his eyes.

The older Sawyer got, the more he looked liked Daryl. He had that dark, shaggy hair since Beth wouldn't cut it and dark blue eyes like his, they were more open like Beth's, though. He had her lips but Daryl's jaw line and janky little ear that always stuck out from under his hair.

Beth said you could really see it when they smiled because they had the same little half grin.

Apparently passing out while she sang ran in the family, too, because he never did get past a kiss that night, and he didn't remember falling asleep.

* * *

The garden had turned out really well. They canned for days, and Daryl got as stir crazy as Sawyer by the end of it.

"Why don't y'all go outside?" She offered and practically pushed them out the door.

"Bye, momma!" Sawyer yelled and took off into the backyard with Daryl on his heels.

"Bye, baby!" Beth called and waved from the door.

They played tag for a bit then Daryl put him on his shoulders and started walking around the wall.

"Now, this wall's important, Bub."

"I know," he said and pulled on his hair a little trying to get him to turn. "Don't go without ya."

"That's right. When ya get bigger, I'll teach ya how to hunt and track, so ya can help me take care of momma."

"I'm brave."

Daryl tapped on his foot. "There's a difference between stupid brave and smart brave."

"I'm smart. Momma said I was."

"Ya are, but sometimes it's smart to run away."

"Like chase?" Before he could say anything, Sawyer bent to the side and tilted his head right in front of Daryl's face. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, Bub?"

"I want arrows."

Daryl flipped him off his shoulders and put him back on the ground. "When ya get bigger."

Sawyer reach up and grabbed his hand, holding it as they kept walking.

At first, it had been hard not to flinch or feel uncomfortable with the affection from his little boy. He hadn't been given any as a child and had always been called names for wanting a hug or trying to get to close to anyone.

His momma was good about treating him nice when his daddy hadn't been around, but he didn't think he had ever held his old man's hand. Not even when he was dying on the forest floor after getting eaten by a walker.

Daryl couldn't even say if what he felt then had been sadness.

Then one evening while he and Beth were sitting on the couch, he poured it all out to her.

She had hugged him tight to her and whispered into his ear, "You're not him."

"What if I turn that way?"

"Ya won't." Her voice was so full of conviction and he turned his head and looked at her.

"How do ya know that?"

Beth kissed him slowly then pulled back, meeting his gaze again. "You're the man that hunted me down when no one else cared, the man that stayed here with me, the man who brought me peach schnapps in a tree house and took me back to my home." He smiled at that and so did she. "Tell me, Mr. Dixon, who was the first person your son saw when he was born? Who was the first person to ever hold him, show him attention, and treat him with love?"

The next day, he let his toddler hold his hand as they walked around the backyard.

His hands had done a lot of bad shit in his time, but turned out, they also did good stuff, too.

* * *

"Daryl?" Beth shook him awake.

He opened his eyes up and squinted at her. "What's wrong?"

"Listen."

Daryl got very quiet and his heart started beating in overdrive as the groans got louder and louder.

He was up instantly and pulling on his shirt. "All the doors are locked and chained. Can't nothin' get inside this armory," he whispered.

"What about the gate?" She asked and watched him as moved the chair to the wall and stepped up in it to look at the broken window, a chilly breeze blew through signaling winter's approach.

"Standin', but looks like a lot of movement."

"What the hell?" She whispered hysterically.

"No clue, darlin'. Not a damn clue."

Neither one of them moved, and he prayed that Sawyer would stay asleep. If he woke up, and started crying. They'd never be able to get out.

"What do we do?" Beth asked after several minutes.

"Looks like they're just at the gate. Maybe ten of 'em. I can't tell too much since it's dark, but by the sound, there ain't a herd."

"They're so loud."

Daryl nodded. "Ya ain't seen walkers in a bunch in a while, Beth. Ya forgot how they really sound when they're this close."

Beth covered her face with her hands and tried to calm her breathing down while he turned back to the window. He stood there for hours watching them at the gate.

They weren't wandering off, and they weren't pressing hard enough against it to knock it over. There weren't enough of them to cause it to break anyway.

When the sun started to rise, he stepped off the chair and grabbed his bow. "I'm gonna get up on the roof and get a better look."

She looked from him to Sawyer then back. "Please, be careful, Daryl."

"I ain't gonna do nothin' stupid, darlin'. I swear to ya."

She nodded shakily and hugged him as tight as she could. "I forgot how it was."

Daryl kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I didn't forget 'em, but I forgot what it was like to have 'em near y'all."

They broke apart, and he went into the barracks then up the rusty ladder that led to a hatch in the ceiling. It creaked a little when he opened it, but it was up so high the walkers wouldn't think it was in front of them. Might even be confused and start wandering somewhere else, he hoped.

On top of the armory, he crouched down and moved quickly to the front of the building then laid down on his stomach.

There were twelve walkers all gathered around the gate, pushing and groaning, their faces seeming to press into the wood like they were trying to eat something. It was too many to kill by himself or even if Beth came and helped him.

He'd never use the ammo to shoot them from the roof and have the gunshots bring down more if they were in the area. He was at a complete loss at what to do for several minutes before he and the walkers heard a loud crash in the distance.

They all looked to the left and the walkers amble off towards the noise, and Daryl released a long breath. Once they were out of sight, he went down the ladder and out toward the gate.

He looked around and saw several drops of blood on the ground and a handprint against the plywood, but no body.

That wasn't a good sign at all. One the ground, were so many footprints that he couldn't tell which were walkers and which were people, but once he stepped away, he could tell the distinct path the people had taken. There were three sets of footprints, but no blood, so he assumed someone was being carried.

An unnerving feeling skittered up his spine as he looked around the woods. And he wondered who had made that crash because he was certain it wasn't an accident.

* * *

He locked the gate back up after he got rid of the blood and went back into the armory.

Beth was walking the kitchen and Sawyer was blissfully unaware of anything going on.

"Well?" She asked, trying to make her voice not sound strained.

"Looks like we had a wounded _animal_ that left some blood and a print on the gate. They were being followed by something, so they took off."

Beth paled and looked to Sawyer who was drawing with some colors Daryl had found a few months ago.

"Ya think we're safe?" She whispered and stepped toward him.

"Dunno. Thinkin' about lookin' in the woods, but I don't wanna leave y'all here unprotected, and I don't wanna get ambushed," he whispered back.

"What should we do?"

He took a few strips of rabbit meat from one the plastic containers then said, "I'm gonna take the rifle and get up on the roof. Keep an eye out."

"Okay, babe." Her voice was just a breath.

* * *

Several hours later, he was getting sleepy and stiff from laying on the roof. He had been looking through the woods with the scope and nothing had made an appearance. He wondered if it was just a random accident.

People were running from walkers, got up to the gate and tried to get in before they realized the walkers were too close then took off again. It wasn't too difficult to believe something like that.

He spent the next couple of days doing the same thing, and he'd take a nap in the early evenings, then spend the nights up there, too. Beth insisted that she take a turn, and they work in shifts, but he refused. Finally, he was so worn out that he didn't wake up when she laid down Sawyer one night, so she just left him in bed and took the roof herself.

Daryl had been pissed at first, but that quickly vanished when he saw how tired she looked and had still fixed something for them to eat for breakfast.

"We all got jobs to do, Daryl." She handed him a little plate with some opossum on it. "And sometimes our jobs overlap now."

He thanked her for the food, and she took a little nap before getting up to take care of Sawyer through the day while he went to the roof.

The boy was off in his own little world, playing and coloring. He missed going outside, but Beth had told him that they couldn't right now because it wasn't safe, and Daddy was trying to make it safe.

Daryl looked at his son and shook his head because he looked like him for sure, but he acted so much like Beth, always creating or imagining something.

After five days of nothing, Daryl decided that it probably was an accident, and whoever had been at the gate was either dead or long gone by then.

That morning, instead of heading up to the roof after Beth's nap, he said he was going to check the snares. Beth and Sawyer stayed inside and he was back within the hour, two rabbits and three squirrels on his belt.

They all sat outside that evening as Daryl cleaned the animals and cooked them over the grill. The weather was getting colder, and he looked at Sawyer who was wearing a too small jacket.

"I'm goin' on a run soon, Bub. I think ya need a bigger jacket. You're gettin' to be a big boy," he said and nudged him with his shoulder.

Sawyer grinned and so did Beth.

"He's right, baby. You're growin' up on me." She picked him up and kissed his cheek.

"I wanna be big like daddy," he said in his little squeaky voice.

Beth looked at Daryl with soft eyes and then back to Sawyer. "Ya will. It just takes time, and ya gotta eat all your food so ya can get strong."

That started him and Beth going back and forth about what foods were good and what foods didn't taste right, and how grass was green, could he eat that?

Daryl smiled and cleaned off his knife.

"Ya can't eat grass," she laughed. "You're not a cow!" Then she tickled his side.

After he finished giggling he asked, "What's a cow?"

Beth got quiet, and he looked over at her. Now, that he was talking really well and learning more, he would ask questions when they talked about stuff he didn't know anything about.

"Well, ya remember when I told ya things used to be different?" He nodded. "A long time ago, there were animals called cows, and we used to eat them like we do the squirrels and rabbits. And cows would eat grass like this." She made an exaggerated chewing motion with her mouth and Sawyer laughed again.

"Why don't ya go sit by daddy, and I'll get the food ready."

He sat down by Daryl and looked between them. "You have a daddy?"

Daryl tensed for a second then nodded. "Sure did, Bub. So did your momma. Everyone had a momma and daddy at some point."

"Who's everyone? Where's you daddy?"

Daryl sighed. It was moments like these when he hated how the world was more than anything.

"Everyone means like other people. My daddy died a long time ago. Momma's daddy went to heaven later." His voice cracked as he remembered the small smile on Hershel's face right before the blade came down on him. "Your momma's daddy, he'd be your grandpa. He was a good man. He'd have loved ya."

Daryl saw Beth walk quickly into the kitchen and knew she must have been crying because he was right on the verge of it himself.

"Are ya sad?" Sawyer asked and patted his cheek.

Daryl tried to smile and shrugged. "Miss him."

"You daddy or grandpa?"

"They'd both be called your grandpa, but I really miss momma's daddy. He was good to me."

"Do ya wanna go play before food?"

And just like that, he was onto something else, and without a clue just how many people had gone before him that he would never meet or understanding the depth at which his daddy had opened himself up to him.

Daryl ruffled his shaggy brown hair and said, "Sure, Bub. We got time."


	22. Chapter 22

Ch. 22

Thank you all for reviewing! I'm so sorry I didn't get to reply.

I'll try and get to them today!

This is a fun one.

* * *

Beth stood up and stretched, her feet stinging a little at the cold floor. She hated the cold, but even more so since Sawyer seemed to have inherited her great dislike of it, too. During the winter months, he was always right between her and Daryl, curled into his daddy's chest.

Daryl was like a furnace, and she had to admit, she missed be on the receiving end of that warmth. But, if she had to share it with anyone, she didn't mind it being Sawyer.

She left him alone in bed while she went to go to the bathroom, and get more firewood to heat up the bedroom for when he woke up. Like usual, Daryl had already headed out to hunt.

When it got colder, he'd leave early in hopes of tracking a deer. Since it had been a few years, and usually walkers didn't make it up this far, he felt better about leaving them alone.

When it came to hunting, they would get a few deer throughout the year. Daryl was very careful of over hunting, so that's why he usually saved the deer hunting for the winter months when they needed the extra food so much more.

After she peed, she put on her boots and hauled the bucket outside to the back corner of the armory. This was something she absolutely hated doing, but had become a necessity. She missed plumbing so much.

Once that was all taken care of, she went back inside and stoked the fire to keep Sawyer warm and went about folding up the clothes that she'd cleaned the day before. It was true, they had a lot more hands on work to do, but she would be done with it by lunchtime, and then the rest of the day they would do whatever they felt like.

Usually, it was playing with Sawyer or teaching him his letters.

She was so worried that she wouldn't be able to teach him how to read, but Daryl reassured her all the time that she could do it herself. He was smart and would pick up on it. He didn't need a teacher or a classroom.

When it got a bit colder and the walkers in the town slowed down more, he said that he would go to one of the bigger toy stores and find some easy books. She wanted to go with him so badly, but she didn't want to take Sawyer, and she didn't think that Daryl would agree to her going off on her own. And it wasn't that she couldn't hold her on against walkers, it was that he was terrified that people would take her again.

To be honest, it worried her, too.

It had been so long since she'd been out of the woods and into a town though, and she wanted to go out.

"Momma?" Sawyer asked and walked sleepily into the kitchen.

"Oh, baby. What're ya doin' up? It's so early."

He held his arms up, and she picked him up. Immediately, he laid his head down and went back to sleep. She shook her head at his cuteness and laid him on the couch and covered him up with a blanket while she kept folding clothes.

Their life here had been so simple.

After Sawyer's birth, the only truly terrible thing to have happened was the safe zone falling in Newnan. Daryl tried to keep it inside, but she could tell how hard that had hit him. Just when he had started to believe in something more, it had gotten taken away and he had lost more people who he had grown to like.

Beth was selfishly glad that she hadn't known any of them personally, but she did cry when he told her about it when he came in that day. There were good, kind people in that town and someone had just gotten rid of it all.

She remembered her momma yelling, "This is why we can't have nice things!" When she and Maggie had been running around, acting crazy and knocked over a lamp or spilt red kool-aid on the cream sofa.

Sometimes she felt like screaming that exact same thing when she thought about the injustices and bad people in the world that seemed to have taken over.

She hated to think about what might have happened in Alexandria. They were already fighting all the time Daryl said, and if Newnan, the town that seemed to be fairing all right had failed, she worried for their fate.

At that moment, Daryl's familiar knock sounded at the backdoor, and she heard the chains start rattling as he unlocked it.

When he walked in, he was wearing a huge grin on his face. "Got us a deer," he said and picked her up.

Beth tilted her head down and kissed him. "That was quick. It's barely daylight."

He nodded and sat her back down. "Right place, right time." Daryl looked at Sawyer who was out like a light on the couch. "Can ya put him in the bed?"

"Yeah," she said and as gently as she could, carried him into the bedroom and put him back under the covers. The room was warm and the smoke wasn't too bad since most of it was floating out the window. He normally slept late when he was bundled up and toasty.

As soon as she left the room, she saw that the kitchen door had been locked and chained, but she didn't see Daryl. Suddenly, she was yanked back into his chest and he started kissing her neck before he spun her around and picked her up, pressing her between his body and wall.

"God, I miss ya," he whispered against her lips before roughly kissing her, sliding his tongue along hers with a groan.

It had been awhile since they had gotten any free alone time. For the last couple of weeks, every time they tried, Sawyer would wake up then there were the walkers at the gate.

"I miss ya, too," she gasped as he pulled his mouth away from hers and ran his lips down her jaw and to her ear. His breath hitting that slightly wet, sensitive skin made her stomach clench, and she tried to tilt her hips into his.

"Office," she whispered into his ear, and he turned and started walking them down the hallway.

Once inside, he dropped her down and closed the door, making sure to turn the lock. "He'll sleep a good bit, right?" Daryl asked and walked her back into the desk that they had left in there.

"In theory," she laughed quietly and sat on top of it.

"In theory," he muttered and played with the scruff on his chin.

"Ummhmm."

She watched him, watching her for a minute. He looked like he didn't know where to begin, so she took the lead and pulled her shirt over her head.

The cold air hit her hard and she shivered as goodbumps popped up all over her upper half.

"Get to movin', Mr. Dixon."

He walked across the room, shedding his vest, jacket and long sleeved flannel shirt.

Once he stood in front of her, she placed her hands on his stomach and tilted her chin up to look at him. He was so tall and lanky, but his shoulders were broad and strong. His hair was almost long enough to tie back, but he didn't really want her to cut it.

Before he kissed her, he bent down and picked up his shirt and laid it down behind her over the desk. "Don't want ya gettin' too cold," he whispered against her lips.

His body moved over hers until she had to lay flat on the desk. Without breaking the kiss, he reached between them and pulled down her sweat pants then undid his jeans, pushing them down past his hips.

"I want ya so much," he murmured.

He had barely touched her at all before he pushed inside. It wasn't the most comfortable she had ever been, and she groaned. A few strokes and he had more than made up for the entrance, but he suddenly pulled away, leaving her legs hanging over the desk and a confused look on her face.

"I's just wanted a little s'all," he said then he hit his knees before leaning forward and dragging his tongue over her wet skin.

Beth gasped and dropped her head back against the desk as he continued to work her over. Her hands threaded into his hair and she began tilting her hips to meet the flicks of his tongue once she got close. He pressed in two fingers and curled them in a way that made her whole body tingle then the flicks turned to a gentle sucking of her clit, and she fell right over the edge.

Her breath was coming out in pants and she caught his grin as stood up and stroked his erection between her legs.

"Good?" He asked, but he was watching her center. She could still feel the occasional spasm of muscles and he smirked before putting himself right at her entrance. "Seems like it was good."

"You're so full of yaself," she moaned and tried to move her body to take him in, but he moved away.

Then his cheeks pinked a little, and he seemed to fight the shit-eating grin that took over his face, but he lost. "Nah, girl, you're about to be full of me."

Beth threw her hand over her face and laughed. "Oh my god. You're so silly."

At that moment, he thrust in hard, stealing her breath. "What am I now?" He asked, keeping up a hard pace.

"Silly," she breathed.

With every slap of his hips against her inner thighs, she knew he was anything but silly. Daryl leaned over her again, and she linked her hands behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

As she bit his bottom lip, his thrusts got sloppy and he pulled away, pining her hips in place as he moved slower and slower until he pulled out entirely.

"Will ya?" He asked breathlessly.

Immediately, she slid off the off the desk and he kicked his vest right in front of his feet. When her knees the leather, he tangled his hands in her hair, and she took him into her mouth.

It hadn't taken her long to know his tells, so she knew from the tremble of his thighs to the way he was rhythmically tugging on her hair that he was close.

When he gasped out her name and hunched over her body, she flicked the underside of his head with her tongue, and he came in spurts down her throat. After a few slow licks, she leaned away, and Daryl helped her up off the ground.

His hands cupped her face, and his lips met hers softly then his tongue traced her bottom lip before he moved away.

"This fuckin' day," he said with a smile.

"You're on a roll so far," she agreed and pulled on her pants then her sweater. Beth picked his shirt off the table. "Probably smells like sweat."

"Smells like your pussy." He smirked when she blushed. "Whole damn room does."

"You're bad," she said and shook her head.

He finished getting dressed while she watched, giving a little catcall when he pulled his jeans back up and over his dick.

"Sorta looks sad now that it's all tuckered out," she said innocently.

Daryl's face turned blood red, and she couldn't hold her laugh in anymore, covering her mouth up with her hand.

"Ain't sad," he muttered. "Men ain't got shit goin' for us like women do. Ya got tits that always look like they need to be sucked on. Hell, even your pussy's pretty, and I saw some shit the night Sawyer was born. Ain't my fault God did this to me."

It was Beth's turn to turn red and she slapped his chest. "Ya didn't see nothin', Daryl Dixon. Not a damn thang."

He placed a hand over his heart and peeked up from under his shaggy hair at her. It was bullshit. "You're right. An angel of the Lord came right down to Georgia to delivery that baby while I was sleepin'."

"Exactly." She strode past him to the door, forgetting it was locked and almost running into his when it didn't give.

Before she could turn the lock, Daryl was right behind her, leaning over her shoulder and tilting his face into her neck. "I love ya so fuckin' much."

"I love ya, too," she whispered and turned her head to the side and kissed him softly. "You're my best friend, did ya know that?"

"I did," he said quietly. "Sawyer's mine."

Then he clicked the lock and opened the door, pushing her out. "You're such an asshole," she laughed. "I's bein' serious."

"Why ya laughin'?" Sawyer said, and the both turned suddenly to see the little boy peeking out from the bedroom door. "What's asshole?"

"Oh my God," Daryl whispered. "It wasn't me."

Beth put her hands over her cheeks and tried to find the right words, but her mouth just opened and closed.

"Ain't nothin' ya need to worry about, Bub." Daryl walked forward and picked him up. "I got us a deer this mornin'. Ya wanna go see it before I clean it?"

"Yeah!" He squealed and looked back at Beth. "Ya goin' momma?"

"We'll all go out after we get dressed," she finally managed to say.

Right before Daryl walked into the bedroom, he turned to her and said to Sawyer, "I love your momma, ya know that?"

Sawyer smiled. "I love momma, too."

Once they were through the door, she whispered, "This fuckin' day," through a smile.


	23. Chapter 23

Ch. 23

I really hope you guys like this one!

Also, there will be no updates on Wednesday or Thursday this week. I'll be back with 24 on Friday :)

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

**Warning: This chapter contains a spoiler from the comic.**

* * *

They spent a good part of the day cooking the deer meet after Daryl had cleaned it and cut it all up.

Food lasted longer once it was cooked, so they put the finished product in plastic containers and then put them in the hall closet where the temperature didn't change too much. It was always freezing since it was located in the inside of the building and had no windows.

"More?" Sawyer pushed the little plastic plate toward Beth.

"More what?" She asked, trying to get him to say please.

"Food."

Daryl snorted and Beth side-eyed him.

"More, _please_, baby," she said and waited for him.

"More, please, baby." He looked at her with such a confused expression on his face that Daryl couldn't hold back his laughter.

"No, just-here ya go, baby." She placed her last three strips of meat on his plate and slid it back over. "Next time, it would be nice to say 'please' when ya ask for more."

He nodded, already eating at a small strip of meat.

Daryl pushed his plate toward her. "More, please, baby?"

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as Sawyer said, "Good job, daddy."

"Thanks, Bub." The flat expression on her face turned to a barely contained grin. "I'll get it," he said and picked up her plate, too. "What's on the grill is sure to be done, so I'll get us some fresh."

"Thank ya." She winked at him as he walked by.

Their two grills were working overtime cooking all the food, but had held up really well given how often they used them. When he went looking for Sawyer new clothes, he would have to look around for another small grill that he could take the rack from. It wouldn't hurt to cook over an open fire some.

He had just placed a large strip of deer steak on their plate to share when he heard his name hollered from the front.

At first, he thought he was hearing things, but then the same voiced yelled it out again.

"Beth?" Daryl called out quietly.

She walked out the kitchen door with Sawyer on her hip. "Yeah?"

"Listen."

After few second of silence, they heard, "We don't mean no trouble. Just lookin' for some people."

"Oh my god," she whispered and started walking fast around the building, clutching Sawyer to her chest.

"Wait!" He whispered yelled and took off after her, grabbing her arm to stop her. "We just need to be sure."

Beth nodded but her eyes were wide and shocked.

"What's it?" Sawyer asked and tried to turn around to the gate.

Daryl went back around the armory and picked up his crossbow, rejoining Beth, and walking toward the gate.

"Who's out there?" He called when he got halfway across the yard.

There was just a second of silence and then, "Daryl?"

"Rick?"

They were right in front of the gate when the voice answered again. "Yeah, it's me."

Daryl's hand shook as he unlocked the chains on the gate, and pulled one side open just enough to peek out.

There were five people in front of him, and they looked worse for the wear.

Rick had a long scar across his right cheek, Carl was now wearing an eye patch over his left eye, Michonne had a jagged scar through her eyebrow, Carol just looked worn out. The little girl in front of him made his heart stop. She had pretty brown hair to her shoulders, but she had burn scars running over her neck and left cheek, stopping right below her eye.

Immediately, he yanked the gate back and said, "Get in here."

There was the obvious absence of four of their family, and he wanted to prepare Beth, but there was no time. As each person came through the gate, he watched her face fall a little more every time. Daryl locked the gate back up and turned just in time to see Rick and Beth's silent conversation in which Rick shook his head a little and Beth closed her eyes and looked away.

They all stood around awkwardly for a few seconds before Beth seemed to pull herself back together. "Daryl got a deer this mornin', so we got plenty to eat. C'mon."

Daryl watched as Beth led everyone but Rick away. His friend, his brother, stood beside him in the silence for a couple of minutes before Daryl asked, "Why didn't ya send anythin' back?"

Rick shook his head. "Ya sent that message about a week after that happened to Judith. I knew that if we'd have stayed with y'all, she wouldn't have ended up in a hospital bed in so much damn pain that she couldn't even talk."

"Ya don't know that," Daryl said and shook his head. "Ya don't know what shit would've happened had y'all stayed here."

That was met by silence.

"How'd ya find us?" He asked quietly as Sawyer went running through the yard toward them.

"Some Newnan survivors made it back to Alexandria about a year ago. We visited with them one night, and they were tellin' stories about some guy that used to come through. A hunter that lived up in an old armory in the woods with his wife and kid." Rick laughed humorlessly. "I hated you for awhile."

Daryl's skin felt too tight, and he looked down at his boots, the ones that he had gotten from Cale when the safe zone was still intact. He felt a hot flush of guilt rush through him at those words.

"Daddy!" He looked up and tried to push it all away, but it held steady even after he picked up his son. "Look it!" Sawyer held out his hand, and Daryl looked at the little star pendant in his palm.

He cleared his throat and said, "That's great, Bub."

Sawyer squirmed out of his arms and ran back toward the back of armory. Daryl swallowed hard and shook his head. He couldn't say anything else to Rick right now that would make him feel any better. In fact, the more he saw of their little home, he figured the angrier he might get, at himself, and at Daryl for his choice in staying.

"At least tell me that ya didn't go and name him Merle."

Daryl turned his head sharply and eyed Rick for a minute. His brother had been an asshole, but he damn sure had loved Daryl and had been his only blood left. "Nah, we named him Rick," he said in a strong voice. "Sawyer's his middle name, and that's what we call him 'cause Beth liked that name the best, and since she pushed that kid out, I figured she had the final say."

He didn't wait for a response; instead, he started across the yard to find Beth. He desperately needed her in that moment. He might have fucked around earlier when she had called him her best friend, but she was his, and he wanted to hold her for a minute, and try and stop the rage that had begun boiling under the surface.

* * *

Carol, Michonne, and Carl all sat of the table talking to Beth while Sawyer and Judith colored in books on the floor.

She had to be almost six, but she was petite and with her jacket off, he could see the burn scars on her left arm and hand. Sawyer didn't seem to care though. Daryl walked over and sat down on the floor beside them, ignoring the other adults in the room.

Sawyer looked up at him with a smile, and Judith shyly looked away.

"Daddy, Juju has marks like you and momma. She's little like me."

"She is," he answered quietly, ignoring the comment about the scars they all shared. The truth was, he hadn't thought about his or Beth's scars in a long time. Used to, he held onto all this anger about where they came from or loads of guilt in terms of Beth's. Now, they were just there and the story they told was in the past. They had survived them.

Everyone seemed to be paying close attention to their conversation, including Rick who had come inside right behind him. He wondered where they thought his scars were or where they were from, but that thought left him mind just as quickly as it had come.

"We only have the bed and the couch," Beth said. "I think Judith and Sawyer could take the bed with Carol. Someone else could have the couch, and the rest of us can spread out some of the blankets around on the floor."

"Who needs to keep first watch?" Michonne asked as she looked over their group.

Beth just shook her head. "We don't have a watch."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as it became even more apparent that Beth and him had been leaving a lot calmer existence than they had.

"I'll take watch," Rick said and stood up. "How do I get to the roof?"

Daryl continued to sit on the floor, staring down at the drawing that Sawyer was doing. It looked like some trees, and there was a bunch of squiggly lines and maybe a rainbow up top.

"The hatch to the roof is in the barracks," Beth answered and pointed down the hall.

Rick strode off, and everyone sat in even deeper silence.

He thanked God when everyone started talking about being tired and needing to sleep. Sawyer was happy to sleep with Judith and Miss Carol. He was in awe of the little girl, and it suddenly occurred to Daryl that Sawyer had never seen another child before. Michonne and Carl slept on the floor in the bedroom so they would be near the fire. They said it had been awhile since they had been able to keep one going at night.

When everyone was settled, Beth sat beside him on the couch and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"That didn't go as I imagined," she whispered.

"I know." Beth wrapped her arms around his waist, and he knew she was crying even if she didn't make any loud noises. The tears soaked through the front of his shirt. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

After a few minutes, she straightened up and wiped off her cheeks. "Michonne said that Glenn was murdered by a man named Negan, and Maggie never came back from the loss. She just sorta let it happen." Beth shook her head. "I didn't ask how. I don't want to know."

Daryl ran his fingers through the ends of her hair and asked, "Do ya think we shoulda tried harder to make 'em stay with us? Is this our fault?"

The breath she let out was heavy, almost like she was trying to stop from sobbing. "I don't know."

* * *

The next morning, he woke up to a light touch against his shoulder. Daryl opened his eyes and met Carol's concerned stare.

"Sawyer okay?"

"He's fine," she said quietly. "A bit of a bed hog, though. He's still sleepin'."

He nodded and scrubbed a hand over his face then gently moved Beth's head out of his lap and stood up.

"Y'all are doin' really well for yourselves," she said as she followed him outside in the early morning light.

He grunted and stepped around the edge of the building. She leaned against the other side, facing the backyard while he took a piss facing the front.

"How'd ya make it out unscathed," he muttered after he was finished.

She smirked and shook her head. "Nine lives, remember?"

"Huh." Daryl looked over the yard.

About that same time, Rick came out of the kitchen door, and spotted them. He stopped for a moment then finished crossing the distance to them.

"What's your daily schedule," he asked once he stood in front of him.

He didn't know how it happened or why, but he immediately felt like he was answering to a superior than someone that had come into _his_ home and was eating _his_ food.

"Gotta check the snares in a bit. Got enough deer to hold us a while, so I ain't too concerned if nothin's there. Prolly need to take a run today or tomorrow. Sawyer's jacket's getting too small, and he needs new boots for the winter."

"That's it? No wall checks, no perimeter searches?" Rick's eyes had narrowed, and he looked hardened. He wasn't the same man Daryl had known, and that knowledge left him feeling off balance.

"Nah," Daryl said, feeling every single defense raise back up at once. "We get maybe twenty walkers a year out this way. Last week, we got twelve at once which was crazy for us. Someone lead 'em here, though."

Rick shook his head. "I'm so sorry we led walkers to your door, Daryl. We had been on the run and Carl had a pretty nasty gash in his shoulder, so you'll forgive us for not callin' ahead."

"It was y'all?"

"Yeah, and had ya actually been on watch like ya shoulda been, ya woulda seen us and we'd have been here a week earlier. Instead, you're all hunkered down here, pretendin' the world ain't shit."

Daryl squared his shoulders and took a step forward. "What the fuck's your problem?"

"Ya ain't doin' your job," Rick spit out then turned away, walking toward the gate.

"He's had a hard time," Carol said quietly. "Beth was concerned about Maggie and Glenn last night, so I'm not surprised she didn't ask about Ty and Sasha."

"What happened?" He asked lowly and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Sasha was killed on the way. Maybe two weeks after we left y'all. We didn't see the walkers until they were right up on us." She shook her head. "That was the bad omen, ya know? Everythin' went to hell after that.

"We made it to the safe zone, and Abraham, Rosita and Eugene separated from us. Gabriel went to the church there, and we rarely heard from him. There were firefights all the time with other communities near us. Never any peace. Then they set fire to Alexandria. Judith was trapped in Rick's house with Tyreese. He saved her, Daryl. He covered her up and ran her through the house to get her out.

"He died in the worst pain ya can imagine." Carol wiped her eyes and smiled at him. "There are so many good people that should be standin' in my place, and Ty is one of 'em."

They stayed in silence as Daryl chewed on her words then she continued on.

"That same day, Carl got shot in the eye."

"What?" Daryl turned and stared, his jaw dropped open.

"Yeah," Carol said with a nod. "It was clear headshot. We thought he was dead until the doctor came over. His pulse was barely there. Somehow, he and Judith both survived, and that was the beginnin' of the end for Rick.

"When Glenn got killed then Maggie," she sighed. "He had been lookin' to leave Alexandria for a long time, but that actually made him start puttin' things into motion. Then the guys from Newnan showed up, and that's all she wrote. We got on the road a few weeks later, but it took us forever to get here then find ya."

"Why's he actin' like all that shit's my fault. Y'all coulda stayed."

Carol shrugged. "Who knows. Either he'll get over it, or you'll have to knock some sense into him."

"I ain't gonna fight him."

"Rick needs his ass handed to him," she said and stepped in front of him. "Don't just let him come in here and run over ya. That's what he always does to people."

"Rick's done all right by me," Daryl argued with her.

"That was before."

Carol didn't want for his reply, and she went back into the armory. He stood out there for awhile longer, watching as Rick walked around the inside wall of the armory, pressing on the wall, checking for weaknesses.

The tension wasn't gone even though he was so far away, and Daryl wondered what might happen to make it all explode.


	24. Chapter 24

Ch. 24

I hope you all had a great holiday!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming :)

* * *

Beth woke up nearly every day that first week with red, scratchy eyes for the first time in a very long time.

Most of her family was back, but they were missing four key people. The first night, she had been so caught up in not seeing her sister and Glenn that her mind just stalled out. Then she got to thinking about Tyreese and Sasha, and her heart just crashed more.

Those were good people. They were strong, loving, and selfless. Not saying that the ones that were there now weren't, but it just seemed like they had gotten a little more cynical in there time away which was completely normal.

Carl smirked when she asked about his eye. "Took a bullet to the head."

"Oh my God."

"Right? How the fuck am I even here?"

Beth just kept her mouth shut, and looked him over. She knew that that he wasn't the same boy she knew, but in the last five years, Carl Grimes had become a man, and he was rough around the edges.

Michonne still held a soft spot for Judith and had given Beth a small smile when she passed out food, but other than that, she was still quiet and observant. She watched Sawyer with sad eyes, and Beth wondered just what she was thinking of.

Carol seemed to have decided she had enough of everyone. Her answers were short and to the point. She watched Sawyer with a smirk on her face, and called him DJ much to his confusion. She was always on Rick's back about acting like an asshole, which seemed to be the only way he knew how to act anymore.

Beth wondered just how much more Daryl would take. She could sense his fuse was getting shorter and shorter every time Rick questioned something they had been doing the entire time they had been living there.

He questioned how they stored their food, how often Daryl checked the woods for intruders or walkers, reinforcing the wall, their cache of firewood, and even the frequency in which he had gone on runs.

"Ya can't expect to take care of a family if ya don't get outta this shithole and look for supplies," Rick had said one day when they were sitting down for a small lunch. Between the six adults, they all shared a jar of canned peas, but that didn't seem enough for him. The kids got slices of deer meat since they needed it more than they did.

"How are we supposed to survive on this?" He questioned as he stared at his portion.

Beth lost her temper then and slammed her spoon down on the counter. "Ya survive on it the same way we have. Ya need to take into account that we're sharin' food that we'd canned for two adults and a small child. With the rate we're eatin', we will run out before we get a new harvest, so I'd say ya should shut your damn mouth, and be happy with what ya got."

Everyone stared at her with wide eyes, including Daryl.

"I'm gonna go look at the fence." Rick said and pushed back from the table with too much force.

"It hasn't changed since ya looked this mornin'," she muttered when he passed by her.

He turned on his heel and before she knew it, she was backed into kitchen counter. He loomed over her, and for a moment, she felt complete sadness at what he had become. "Whatcha say to me?"

Daryl was on his feet as it was happening and had yanked Rick back and into the door way. "Ya lay a hand on her or get in her face like that again, and me and you are about to take care of this."

"Y'all are just up here playin' house." His voice held so much anger that Beth cringed back. "Ya don't know what it's like to..."

Daryl cut him off. "To what? Have your home taken from ya? Be on the run? Half starved and the only thang keeping ya goin' is the fact you're too afraid of what's behind ya to stop?" Daryl looked at Beth and back to Rick. "We know what it's like. Ya get in my wife's face again, you're gonna have a bigger fuckin' problem than a few walkers at the gate."

Rick walked out but not before glaring daggers at Daryl.

"He'll get better," Michonne said calmly. "He's a lot more hot headed than he used to be, but I think once he gets settled in, we'll get him back."

Carl made a little noise and everyone turned to him. "What? He's fucked in the head."

"That's your dad, Carl," Beth said quietly.

He ignored her though and looked to Daryl. "Ya need go on that run? Overheard ya mentionin' your boy needin' stuff and since we're crashin' here, we need shit, too. Especially Juju."

"Can I have a drawin' book, Carl?" She asked timidly from behind him while Sawyer just stared at everyone with wide eyes.

"Sure can, sis," he answered and kissed the top of her head. "Ya want anythin' special, little man?" Sawyer looked up at Carl who was sending him a soft smile and shook his head. "Not a thang?"

Sawyer looked over at Beth and once her eyes met his, she saw the confusion there and guilt flooded through her veins. She stole a glance at Daryl and knew immediately he felt responsible for everything that had happened. He never wanted Sawyer to be scared of him, and he never wanted him to see someone try and use their strength to intimidate someone else.

Everything about his life so far had been peaceful and loving, but with their group thrown back together, he was surrounded with tension he didn't understand.

"Daddy?" Sawyer said as he walked over to Daryl. He picked him up and carried him down the hall with Beth following along just as closely as she could. "He's not nice," his small voice seemed to carry.

"Nah, he ain't real nice right now, but he used to be."

"I don't like everyone here."

Her mind was sent back weeks ago when he had asked who "everyone" was and how they had vaguely explained it to mean other people.

Daryl met Beth's eyes, and the look they shared made her feel more secure than ever. She and Daryl could handle Rick's mood swings and little outbursts while he settled back in, but it damn well wouldn't be in front of Sawyer anymore.

* * *

Daryl took his pack and a few garbage sacks. The hike down to the nearest houses would take about two hours, but it was a neighborhood he hadn't scavenged before, so if all went well, they would have plenty of clothes to last the winter months and through summer.

"Where y'all think you're goin'?" Rick asked as Daryl and Carl walked to the front gate.

"On a run," Daryl said and started messing with the lock.

"Ya think ya can just take my son without askin' me?"

Daryl shrugged. "He volunteered to go, and I'm pretty sure he can make up his own mind now."

"Bullshit. Y'all can't just come and go. Ya need to clear shit with me first."

Daryl stared down at the lock in his hands before slowly turning toward Rick. "I don't need to clear shit with ya. This ain't your place. Ya didn't secure it, live in it, or protect it for nearly five fuckin' years. This is my place, and I'm lettin' ya stay here. Ya mighta been top dog up there in Virginia, but I ain't about to step aside."

Rick's nostrils flared and he took a step forward.

"Ya ever pull shit like that around my kid or get in Beth's face again, I'll beat your ass."

He and Carl were nearly half a mile down the path when Rick caught up with them, shouldering a rifle that must have been theirs. None of them spoke as Daryl led the way through the woods and into town.

* * *

"Now, we do this quiet, ya hear me? No shootin'. No goin' after walkers that are outta our way. We get in, get out, and get home."

"Sounds like a pussy way of doin' things," Rick goaded and Carl sighed.

"Nah, it's how ya get home to your family. There's three of us and a shit ton of them. Do the math, Rick. We can't take 'em all on."

"Who knew ya woulda gone soft?" He asked as Daryl stood up and started walking toward the nearest house.

"You're gonna have to do a lot better than that," Daryl said, his tone sharp. "Ya really want me to fuck ya up in front of your son?"

"Don't think ya could if ya tried. Ya done got snipped while I was gone."

That time Daryl actually laughed out loud, and turned back toward Rick. "Ya sure ya didn't die for a split second and come back as my brother? 'Cause you're sure as shit soundin' like him."

"Fuck you," Rick said as Daryl popped open the back door of the house.

They went through quickly and found a few blankets and some adult clothing, but none for the kids, so they moved onto the next house. The same situation there, and the next house, and the next. Finally, the next house proved worthwhile.

He found Sawyer a few jackets ranging in size that would last him a few winters, and the same when it came to boots. Daryl tried not to think about the family that had three little boys all close enough in age to help his son out, but he failed.

He found himself staring at pictures and wondering about them, and how he wished he had a picture of Sawyer and Beth.

If it had been before, and somehow, he had still managed to snag her, he would have carried her picture around all over the place. Even make sure his wallet fell open just right for the cashier to see it when he was checking out at the grocery store or some shit like that.

Daryl wondered how they would have met. Maybe some dark bar where she was singing or even better, a honky tonk where she was just looking for a crazy night out, and she had found him and taken him home.

Then his thoughts turned nicer, maybe she had a flat tire on the side of the road, and he stopped and helped, and she offered him coffee for his service and things grew from there.

"Ya look like a fuckin' puppy," Rick said and shook him from his thoughts.

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that," Daryl murmured, still feeling a calm edge from his thoughts. "Let's go on to the next one. Maybe we'll find Judith some clothes."

The next house had more mason jars and seeds in the shed, but no little girl clothes. The next one was the winner on that front, and Carl piled in clothes that would keep her set for a while along with a few toys and a couple of notebooks.

Daryl found some coloring books for Sawyer, and some easy readers on the shelf for both kids. Judith didn't know how to read yet. She had been in school in Alexandria, but hadn't gone long enough to learn much.

Beth wanted to teach both of them.

Sawyer would take more time since he was so little, but she insisted on him learning his letters and the alphabet song, and at least counting to ten. His boy could count to fifteen already.

"That's it? Three garbage bags of mostly clothes and few other things. No ammo. No guns or knives or fuel?"

Daryl turned toward Rick and shook his head. "No more of any of that shit. What we have is what we got."

"This is ri-fuckin-diculous. How are ya supposed to protect anythin' when ya ain't got shit?"

"What am I protectin' myself from?" Daryl asked. "We ain't got no walkers that I can't kill one-on-one. I got snares and traps for small game. I got my bow for big game, so I don't need no ammo."

"Ya woulda never survived out there," Rick growled and took off walking ahead of them deeper into the woods.

"That's what ya ain't seein', Rick," he said smugly. "I ain't been survivin'. I've been livin'. _You've_ been survivin'."


	25. Chapter 25

Ch. 25

I'm so sorry I didn't get to answer reviews! I was gone all day yesterday after I posted the chapter.

I love reading every one of them!

* * *

He and Rick had been avoiding each other like the plague after their run. Rick kept up his watches and perimeter searches, and Daryl went about his business like usual.

He got up, checked his snares, brought back food, he and Beth cooked and talked while Sawyer played beside them. Everyone else seemed to fade into the background, each doing their own thing and trying to find a peace there that they hadn't anywhere else.

Michonne seemed the quickest to feel safe. Carol was just around. She would pop up in the most random of places and times, like a devil on his shoulder telling him to punch Rick one minute, and the angel on the other telling him that she was so proud of the man he had become the next.

Daryl was certain she had gone crazy.

Carl spent a good bit of his time on the roof, and if he wasn't there, he was with the kids. He made sure to pay special attention to Judith when Rick was off on one of his security tangents, and Daryl could see the goodness that still simmered below the surface.

Daryl walked over to him while he was watching Judith color one afternoon, and asked, "Ya look like you're tryin' to keep the world round for her."

Carl smirked and snorted. "That your way of sayin' I'm tryin' to keep shit normal?"

Daryl hummed and scratched at his chin.

It took him a few minutes, but eventually Carl looked over at him. "I was lost for awhile. Then Judith got hurt, and so did I. When I was out, I saw my mom, but not like as an angel or some shit, I saw her when she was dyin', and I really remembered what she told me. About not lettin' the world fuck me up, not givin' in to somethin' 'cause it was easy. I coulda done some terrible things, Daryl, but when I got movin' 'round again, I didn't go back.

"I took care of her. I made sure she was safe and not hurtin' too bad. My mom died for her. What kinda son would I be if I just let that sacrifice be in vain? I only want what's best for her. 'Sides, Juju reminds me of mom a lot."

"Ya got smart," Daryl said and looked over to Judith. He could see Lori in her features for sure, but there was someone else there, too, and he wouldn't place that person.

"I had to die to get that way. I don't recommend it."

Daryl clapped him on the shoulder and stood up. "Thanks for bein' so nice to Sawyer. He ain't never been around other people before, so he's just shy, I guess."

"No problem, man. He's a good kid."

Daryl just nodded and went back outside to where Beth was at the grill. Sawyer was hugging her leg and Michonne and Carol were standing next to her, listening to her talk about Sawyer's birth.

Michonne met his eyes, and he felt his cheeks burn with the amount of respect that she seemed to be sending his way. Carol had a small smile on her face, and she crouched down to meet Sawyer's eyes.

"Ya look like your daddy," she said and tapped the end of his nose. "Ya act like your momma."

"I'm gonna be big like daddy," he spoke quietly and looked down at his toes.

"Ya got that Daryl Dixon sorta shyness, too." Daryl shook his head at Carol's words and watched as Sawyer blushed a little. "You're precious, DJ."

Then she popped back up and walked off toward the armory.

"She's a bit off since Tyreese died," Michonne said. "Don't think they were together or anythin' like that, but I think they were close. It hit her hard."

"I think she's just fed up with everyone's bullshit," Daryl said and picked up Sawyer. "She's not gonna pretend to care what we think anymore."

"That's a bad word," Sawyer whispered.

"Ehhh," Daryl said and shook his head. "It's a word for adults."

Sawyer just nodded and buried his face into Daryl's shoulder.

"He's sleepy," Beth said with a smile. "He misses sleepin' with us."

Daryl nodded, and wondered what he might be able to do to help fix that problem. They needed more beds, but the ones in the barracks were even worse than when they had found the place, and his kid wasn't sleeping on the floor.

He could take the Jeep, but they only had so much fuel left. Gas went bad though, and it had already been awhile since he had taken it out. He still cranked it on occasion and drove it around the yard to keep it up, but he didn't take it on runs. Either they used the fuel now or they waited until something happened, and they tried to start the Jeep and the gas was bad and it just died right then.

If they took the Jeep, he could get a trailer and few mattresses. Maybe some poles to reinforce the gate. It was freezing and the walkers were in bad shape. They could make it work, but it would be a big job, and he would need Carl and Rick both on board.

He had to admit that he wasn't looking forward to that conversation, but he was done sleeping out on the couch with Beth. They had their own damn room, and the others could split between the other two.

"I'll figure it out, darlin'," he whispered and reached out and buried his hand into her hair before pulling her in for a hug. Daryl kissed the top of her head and Sawyer leaned his forehead against his temple.

They needed time together. He missed his family.

* * *

"You're tellin' me that you're usin' the gas in the Jeep to go get a trailer and beds so that we can make this place more comfortable?"

"Yeah," Daryl said and chewed on his bottom lip. "Need your help."

"Why the hell would I help?" Rick asked, shooting him a death stare.

"If your ass wants a bed, you'll come."

Rick bent forward with his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. He looked at Daryl a beat longer before leaning his head down against his hands.

"This is it?" He asked, mostly to himself, Daryl figured. "This is where we end up?"

"This is where _I_ end up. If ya don't wanna be here, ya can go out again." Daryl said as indifferently as he could manage. "If you're lookin' for the world to go back how it was, ya ain't ever gonna find it."

Rick stood up and walked away without answering him. He looked to Carl who nodded his head.

"Whenever ya wanna go."

Daryl said, "Figured that you, Judith, and your old man can share a room, and Michonne and Carol can take the other."

"Works for me."

* * *

That night they all gathered around the table for dinner, but Beth sat with Daryl on the couch. Sawyer had a plate of food beside him on the floor, but had was coloring in one of the books Daryl had found for him on the last run.

It was some cartoon from before the turn, but he didn't know what it was about really. There was a little girl and a monkey. Sometimes a fox would pop up in the pictures. Sawyer seemed to like it enough.

Daryl ate the hodgepodge of meat on his plate. Some squirrel, rabbit, and opossum. The deer was long gone, and he would wait at least another week or two before tracking another.

The tension in the room was so damn thick that, naturally, Daryl faded into the background and just kept contact with Beth and watched Sawyer. His boy was coloring a rainbow as best he could as some monkey jumped up in the air and the girl just smiled beside it all.

Daryl had never had anything like that as a child. He had never felt like he would be accepted if wanted to color or draw like the other little kids, and by the time he reached first or second grade, all that shit was for pussies.

Sawyer wasn't that though. He was a good, thoughtful, sweet boy. He was a child, and Daryl wanted to make sure he knew that he was loved and protected. He could draw to his heart's content, and when the time came, Daryl would teach him all he knew about hunting and tracking, all of which he was eager to learn anyway.

Sawyer wanted a bow and asked for one repeatedly, and Daryl knew on this next run that he would find a child's bow for him to practice on. More than anything, Daryl knew he would be the best parts of him and the best parts of Beth, and he may have been biased, but that was the greatest thing he could imagine for his son.

* * *

Carl seemed to be the catalyst for many conversations involving his old man, so he looked to Rick and said, "Me and Daryl are headin' out tomorrow with the Jeep. Gonna find some beds for everyone and maybe a few other essentials. If y'all make a list, we'll try and pick it all up. Since this will be the last run with the vehicle, if it's big and ya need it, write it down for us."

There were nods around the table as everyone else dug into their meal. Daryl wanted to find Beth a new sweater or two. She never asked, and hers were getting ratty. Sawyer needed some ABC books.

Rick stood up so fast that he almost knocked over his chair and took off for the door. Daryl stood up at once, motioning for Carl to sit his ass down. It was time that he took care of this shit once and for all.

He followed Rick outside into the cold winter air and called his name.

Rick spun around immediately and bowed up against him. "What the fuck is it that ya think you're doin' around here?" He hollered, and Daryl prayed no one would come outside.

"Buildin' a fuckin' life," Daryl said with a distinct edge in his voice. "I don't know where ya got the idea that I done gone soft, but that ain't the case. I'll knock your ass to the ground before ya can blink, ya sorry asshole."

"Just who the hell do ya think ya are?" Rick sneered. "Ya ain't no better than me. You're just prentedin'. Ya got your little family dinners, and your boy's drawin' unicorns and rainbows when ya should be teachin' him how to defend himself. You're soft. _He's _soft."

He wasn't really sure what happened after that, but somehow Rick ended up pinned against the ground with Daryl's knife against his throat. He struggled against him, but the knife dug into this skin, a thin line of red showing for the pressure.

"Ya watch your fuckin' mouth when ya talk about my kid," Daryl growled out. "We worked fuckin' hard for what we got. I delivered my son; held him in my fuckin' hands as he entered this world, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure he's safe. Ya talk about him again, ya make one fuckin' sound about how me and Beth raise him, and I'll kick your ass outta here so fast your head will spin."

"Daryl?" Beth called his name softly, and he realized that everyone but the children had gathered outside and were staring.

He and Rick held each other stare for several more seconds before Daryl finished, "I don't know what ya got in your head, but ya better fix that shit. I didn't make ya head up to Virginia, didn't make ya do whatever it is ya done up there. We all got the choice. Me and Beth made ours. You and others made y'alls. We didn't leave y'all, Rick, y'all left us."

Beth touched his shoulder then, and he pushed away from Rick and stood up. "The kids don't need to see this," she whispered. Her eyes were full of anger, but he knew he was directed at him. She looked down at Rick and shook her head. "You're here 'cause you're family. I know ya been through hell and back, but that don't give ya the right to come here and shit on us like ya have been. Daryl and I have worked to the bone to make this work. Ya don't get to place blame on Daryl for how your life turned out. He's a good man, Rick, and he learned that from you. Ya need to find that man again. For your daughter's sake more than anythin' else."

She grabbed Daryl's arm and pulled him into the armory and straight to their room. It was all deserted except their stuff, and she just shrugged. "I kicked them out," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry, but we can't be apart anymore."

Daryl nodded. "I know, darlin'. I'm so fuckin' sorry I haven't been takin' care of y'all."

Beth shook her head. "Ya have. This is new for all of us. Don't put it all on ya. I think ya stood up to Rick, and that will help a lot. I almost threw a punch for what he said about Sawyer. What a dick." She sighed. "I know he's just lashin' out, but maybe this will set him straight."

Before he could say anything else, she walked out of the room and came back less than a minute later with Sawyer and all his colors. He had no clue what just had went down, and he smiled up at Daryl, and his heart just melted.

He had no idea how he had managed to create this sweet, special boy with Beth. He was strong, stubborn, and fearless in some moments then the next he was quiet and creating things that Daryl was proud of.

If he had fucking refrigerator, his art would have gone on it. Beth one upped him though and put it on the walls of their bedroom.

For the first time in a week, his son curled against him, and Daryl wrapped an arm around both of them in their own bed, just going back to where they were the safest.


	26. Chapter 26

Ch. 26

Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

* * *

The trip to get the beds wasn't too hard at all.

Rick had showed up at the last minute, and he barely spoke a word the entire trip, but the hostility that he held towards Daryl seemed to be placed on the back burner while they found all the things they needed.

It took all day, but they found a trailer, then picked through houses until they found six full size mattresses and all the covers and sheets to match. The trailer was full, but they put two fire pits on top of everything and tied them down.

Rick did everything that he was expected and never complained. Daryl felt a little bad for doing him like he did, but then he thought about what he had said about Sawyer and that all went away.

They found some extra mason jars for canning, more seeds in someone's shop, a few more clothes, and tools. They stopped through a small town on the way back, and Daryl stopped in front of a sporting goods store. He thought he would be going in by himself, but Rick and Carl filed out a long with him. He found a few more bolts, and a children's bow and bolts.

"Sawyer'll lose his shit over this," he mumbled.

He didn't realize that Rick was standing right behind him. "Shouldn't have said that about your boy."

"No, ya shouldn't've."

"Just so fuckin' mad at myself for all I've done. All that Carl has done. What Judith has gone through. I still look at ya and want to punch ya in the fuckin' throat for makin' the better decision."

"You'll get over it," Daryl said quietly, shouldering the tiny bow that he would give Sawyer when he got a little older. "Or it will drive ya insane."

Rick nodded and walked back to the Jeep. It wasn't a truce, but it was as close as he would ever get.

* * *

After that, winter passed uneventfully.

Rick, Carl, and Judith stayed in the middle office. Michonne and Carol stayed in the room closest to the front door.

No one kept watch anymore.

By the time spring rolled around, they had all established a good working relationship. Most of the time, Rick had a hard time asking for opinions before starting to do shit, but Daryl would usually shut that down right quick, and pulled him back to their reality.

For a few minutes, Rick would be distant and short with him, but before long he came back around.

Daryl and Beth talked at length in their room about how hard it must have been for Rick to go from being head honcho in Alexandria to the quiet existence they had. Since the moment they arrived a few months earlier, not a single walker had made it up that far, and most humans were busy in bigger areas, creating "safe zones". Toward the end of winter another had popped up in Griffin, but Daryl scoffed at that shit and went on his way back to the armory. Not a chance he was getting sucked up into that again.

Carl stopped for a minute and looked longingly at the camp before his dad pushed him back down the road.

"We'll go in the spring."

Spring had come though, and Rick still hadn't gone with Carl to what could have been a good place. Daryl didn't put much stock in it, though. Rick did. He always was thinking of being in a big place like that.

Daryl wanted a quiet existence with his wife and son. He didn't want to be famous. He didn't want to make the history books if the world made a comeback. Daryl wanted to be a good husband. A good father. A steady friend.

That was all.

* * *

In late April, Sawyer celebrated his fourth birthday.

Daryl had found a lone strawberry out in the woods, and picked up for his boy, and Beth had cried seeing it. Daryl wondered what that might have meant to her, but shook it off. Maybe she was just happy that Sawyer had something sweet like they used to have.

They all sat around and had as nice a meal as they could get, and Judith gave him a pretty drawing she had done of all of them at the armory, and Daryl finally handed over that kid's bow.

You would have thought Sawyer had gotten tickets to the moon with how excited he was. He pulled Daryl into a big hug and whispered, "Thank you," so many times that Daryl lost count.

It was a few days later, that Rick announced that he and Carl were going to the safe zone to have a look around. Michonne met each other their eyes then offered to go, too, but they said it would just be a quick trip and they would be back within the week. He just wanted to feel it out.

Carl's intentions were less than pure, and he couldn't blame him. The kid was near twenty, and Daryl was pretty sure he wanted some female attention.

They both left the armory early the next morning to make the two-hour walk to Griffin and left Judith with the rest of them. She seemed more hesitant about Carl leaving than Rick, but Daryl tried not to think about that too much.

* * *

Two days later, Daryl stood out in the backyard with Sawyer and Judith, teaching them how to shoot the bow. He was surprised when Judith wanted to learn, and made a mental note to find her a one when he got around to going back out again. Hell, maybe even telling Rick and Carl to see about picking her up one in Griffin when they got back.

"Ya gotta line your sight up, Bub," Daryl said quietly. He was kneeling on the ground beside Sawyer, helping him get his fingers just right as Judith looked on. "It's a bit heavy drawback right now, but you'll get stronger and have it by yourself in no time."

"Ummhmm," Sawyer said quietly and chew on his lower lip as he tried to aim at the old mattress Daryl had placed a few paces away. It was big, but if he hit it at all, Sawyer would be so damn excited.

Daryl let his hands slid away from his son's and watched as Sawyer let the arrow go. The release wasn't smooth, and he jerked the bow, so the bolt went into the ground a few feet away.

"Good try," Daryl said and got the arrow. "Let's do it again."

They practiced for a good while with Sawyer and Judith switching off, and Daryl giving out pointers as they went along. It wouldn't take much to get them both shooting really well before too long.

About the time he was putting everything put away, and the kids were running around beside the kitchen door, Beth walked out the door with one of his shirts on and it looked like nothing else.

It was pretty hot for a late spring day, but not so much that she should be walking around in a shirt and work boots.

"I wanna go to the creek," she said with a smile when she got to him.

"Now?" He asked as he eyed her up and down.

"Yes, Mr. Dixon. It's been god knows how long since I've gotten to go outside this wall, and Sawyer never has. So, we're going to take our boy to the creek and let him splash around in the water like a normal four year old." She looked over at him with Judith and add, "Juju, too. We all need to get out."

Daryl nodded. "Whatcha got on under there?" He pointed to the hem of his shirt, and she laughed a little.

"A pair of black underwear and a tank top. You're gonna watch Sawyer, and I'm gonna lay on my back in the middle of the creek and just let the water run over me."

Daryl felt his cheeks heat up. "Sounds like a trip we need to make by ourselves first. Just to make sure it's safe."

Beth leaned up and kissed his cheek. "We can make that trip tomorrow. Today, we show Sawyer a little bit more of the world."

* * *

At first, things went so fucking well.

His boy splashed around, and so did Judith. They squealed and ran through the shallow creek, played in the mud. Beth did just what she said and stripped off his shirt and her boots and laid down in the water, smiling the whole time.

His boots stayed on, so did all his clothes, but still managed to play with the kids then steal some kisses from Beth.

She would push him away when he got too heated, but he would smile and pull her back, putting his hand over the lower parts of their faces, so he could kiss her just like he wanted to without the kids seeing.

Daryl walked around, paying close attention to any tracks that might have been near, especially the smooth path of any snakes that had been in the area. Everything was great, and there was no sign of danger at all.

They had just started to call the kids over from the edge of the other side of the little creek where they were building a tower of mud, when Beth gasped and took off across the water.

Daryl looked up just in time to see the walker stagger from the trees a few yards away from where the kids were. It all happened in a matter of seconds.

Judith saw the walker and started to back away slowly, pulling Sawyer with her. When he looked up and saw what was coming, he screamed so loud that Daryl was sure the echo would never leave his ears.

"Daddy!" He said and turned to run. "Momma!"

Beth had both kids in her arms as Daryl raised his bow, trying to calm his shaky hands as he took aim and pulled the trigger.

The bolt went right through its left eye, and it fell backward immediately, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

"Shhh, baby, shhh." Beth was rocking Sawyer back and forth. "It's okay. Everythin' is fine. Daddy took care of it."

Judith was standing at Beth's side, looking up at them with sadness in her eyes that broke his heart.

"Ya okay?" He asked and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, sir," she answered quietly. "I tried to listen for them just in case, but I was havin' too much fun."

Daryl nodded. "We all were. This ain't your fault. I shoulda been more careful. _I_ take care of y'all."

Judith tried to smile, but inside she leaned her forehead against Beth's hip, and Beth placed a hand on her hair, stroking it softly as she tried to calm down Sawyer.

"Let me have him," Daryl said and held out his hands.

Beth turned and handed him over, and Daryl pulled her in for a hug, too. Her face was white as a sheet, and she was trembling. Her eyes said everything he needed to know, and everything he was feeling.

This was the exact opposite of how they wanted Sawyer to learn about the walkers.

* * *

On the way back to the armory, Daryl carried Sawyer, and Beth walked ahead with Judith.

"Bub, those things are why ya don't go out into the woods or into town with me." He tried to keep his voice even. "A long time ago, the whole world got real sick, and lots of 'em turned into things like that. I was with Mr. Rick for a while before we made it to Momma's house. We met her family there. We had to keep movin' for a long time because those things pushed us out of places, and sometimes even mean people tried to do the same. Me and your momma decided that we would stay here in this armory, and Mr. Rick and some others went on.

"I know it don't make a lotta sense to ya, but I'ma teach ya everythin' I know. You'll know how to hunt, how to survive out here in these woods, how to shoot a bow and handle a knife. I will make sure that ya know how to protect yaself from those things, and from bad people."

"It was scary," he whispered into Daryl's neck.

"I know. They didn't always look like that. Over the years, they get worse and worse. I imagine that pretty soon, they ain't even gonna be able to walk around no more."

"Why?" Sawyer leaned away to look him in the eyes.

"That's just the way the virus works," he answered, deciding it was best not to go into too many details with a four year old.

"Will I get sick?" He asked, fear filling his voice.

Daryl stared straight ahead, his breath caught in his chest as the image of what Sawyer had asked flashed through his mind. Even though it might have been a lie, he answered, "Ya ain't never gonna get sick like that."

* * *

Beth sat on the side of the bed while Sawyer slept.

She was afraid to leave him in case he had a nightmare or woke up alone and got scared.

In truth, the walker had been too far away to have done anything to any of them, and Daryl had put it down before she could even get them a couple of feet away from the other bank.

It happened so fast, and it changed his world.

Daryl had talked to him, and he assured Beth that Sawyer was going to be okay. He was shaken up, but he would adjust. It might take a little time, but soon the shock would wear off.

Beth knew he was right, and she also knew he was fully prepared to lock that gate and never step outside again unless it was to check a snare.

His scream had rattled her to her core, but Judith's silence and action brought her back to reality. If Sawyer was ever going to survive, he would need to know how to, and they would make sure he would.

There was a soft knock at the door before it opened slightly and Carol stepped through. She looked down at Sawyer in the bed and gave Beth a sad smile.

"I'm sorry about today," she said quietly and sat down next to Beth, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. Beth nodded and pushed away tears. "Ya know what I love so much about DJ?"

"What?" She asked with a smile, hoping it was something that would throw out memories of this afternoon with something better.

"He's untouched by this world," she said and looked over at him. "He will never remember when this all started, being terrified watchin' the news and seein' things on the television ya could never unsee. He'll never know what it's like to set up a camp with strangers or hide under cars.

"You'll teach your boy how to take care of himself. He'll be safe here 'cause y'all kept him away from all the bad shit and taught him right." She paused and sighed. "Used to be, I thought that we had to make split-second decisions. Answers were black and white. I did some bad things when I thought like that. I thought that good people, people with pure motives and strong hearts, didn't make it here in this world because they were weak.

"It's not 'cause they're weak that they die." She shook her head and her shoulders slumped. "Good people die in this world 'cause they don't know when to stop puttin' themselves out there for others. They sacrifice, they become bargainin' chips, they get caught in the crossfire 'cause the rest of us straddle that line between right and wrong. We cling to those people that proudly stand on the right side of the fence. Then we see you go down. We see your heart, your bravery, and we know that we'll never have that.

"I would've never stayed here with y'all when ya decided not to move on. Hell, I wasn't even mad at Daryl for not lookin' for me the way he looked for you 'cause I wanted him in that way. I was mad 'cause I knew then that I wasn't one of those good people that we chase after. I wasn't even straddlin' the fence anymore, Beth. I had crossed it, and I was on the wrong side."

Beth wasn't sure what to say, so she just squeezed Carol's hand. She smiled when she looked up at Beth, "Daryl still straddles the fence, but not like how he used to. He'd kill, but he doesn't go out lookin' for a fight. He's made peace with all that shit in the past. And one day, this world will be full of people like Sawyer. Good people with strong hearts and courage, but have that ability to stay on the fence.

"He's gonna be a man people look to for guidance and trust his judgment all 'cause you gave him the light, and Daryl gave him the grit." She paused and smiled at Beth again. "Not that you're not tough as nails yourself, but you know what I mean."

Beth nodded slightly. "I think so."

Carol smirked then. "Rick'll leave with Carl. I'll go ahead and call it. They'll try and settle in Griffin. Michonne'll follow 'cause that's her family. I wanna stay here, though, if that's okay. I want quiet and peace."

"What about Judith?" Beth asked quietly.

Carol stood up and walked to the door. "If he asks what she wants, she'll never leave this place either."


	27. Chapter 27

Ch. 27

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!

* * *

Carol had been right.

Rick and Carl had come back nearly two weeks after they left, and they had said that Griffin was a good town on its way to being a self-sufficient community. They needed strong people to help build it up, and they wanted to be a part of it.

Beth knew that Michonne would go with them before she said that she wanted to go check it out, too. The surprising part was when a seven-year-old Judith stood up and said, "I don't wanna go. I wanna stay here with Miss Beth and Sawyer and Mr. Daryl."

"Just Daryl, kid," he muttered, but it was overshadowed by Rick's voice telling her she had to go.

"I don't wanna," she repeated. "I don't wanna go someplace new. I like it here. I like that no one's here!" She screamed and ran down the hall to her room.

Rick sighed heavily and walked down the hallway. Beth knew he would never take out any anger on her his daughter, but the sight worried her. She didn't want him to yell.

Everyone dispersed, and she watched as Daryl stood off to the side talking to Carl, who was wearing a little smirk on his face. She wouldn't be nosy in public, but she would eventually find out what that was all about.

Sawyer sat at the table running his fingers over his new bow. All the bolts had been put away, so he wouldn't hurt himself or anyone else. He just loved to hold it. The day before he asked Daryl for a strap to put on his like Daryl had for his crossbow, so they could wear their bows the same way.

Beth almost died of the cuteness of the moment.

A few minutes later, Daryl walked over to her and motioned her outside.

"Need to get started on the garden, darlin'."

"I know," she sighed and leaned against him. "It's just so much damn work, and I'm being lazy."

"Ya ain't lazy," he said quietly. "I don't wanna do it either."

Beth laughed and Daryl joined in.

"Looks like we better get started," she said and nodded to the barrack door where all the tools were stored.

"Hell nah," he said and shook his head. "We'll start tomorrow."

He pulled her over to a chair sitting out in the yard and sit down, tugging her down onto his lap. "If they leave again, we get that middle office to fuck in."

Beth play slapped his leg. "Oh my God. Only you would think of that perk so quickly."

Daryl squirmed a little in his seat. "Actually, Carl pointed it out 'cause apparently he got some pussy in Griffin, and now, he can't wait to go back."

"What?" She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Ummhmm," he said and tapped her leg. "That boy's gonna be breakin' hearts all through that little safe zone, so I ain't gonna get too comfortable with them bein' gone. He'll prolly get kicked out."

"Did ya mention to him it ain't a brothel?"

Daryl shrugged. "He's about twenty. He ain't thinkin' with nothin' but his dick. Even saw him starin' ya down a few times. He just wants to get his dick wet. Don't give a shit what happens after that."

Beth ignored what he had said about her and said, "He'll make Rick a grandpa then."

"Carl's gonna be careful."

Switching tracks because that one was just too crazy to think about, Beth asked, "Do ya think he'll leave Judith here?"

Daryl shrugged. "They'll visit no matter what. I think Carl needs some time away, and Rick just doesn't know what to do with Judith anyway. I ain't sayin' that he's passin' her off, but I think he realizes she'll be better here than there. Ain't like we can't visit 'em if wanted to either. Shit, it's just a bit down the road."

Beth paused. "Are ya sayin' we'll all go visit if they stay there?"

He shook his head. "Once Sawyer gets older and can take care of himself, we'll go. If Judith stays, Rick will have to come visit her for a while. I ain't riskin' either one of 'em."

Beth leaned her head against Daryl's shoulder. "So, ya think Judith will be stayin' here?"

"Yeah."

"Carol's stayin', too."

Daryl snorted. "Of course she is. Can't have a true family without the crazy aunt."

* * *

After the kids had gone to sleep that night, Rick sat down at the kitchen table with Beth and Daryl.

"She don't wanna go with us," he whispered. "I gotta go."

Beth shook her head, but Daryl nodded. "Ya don't think she'll do well in Griffin?" He asked.

"Nah, I just think she'll turn in on herself again. That scars make her self-conscious, and I ain't always around. Neither is Carl or Michonne."

She was squeezing Daryl's hand so hard she thought she would break his fingers. "She's your daughter, Rick. It don't matter what ya wanna do. She's the only thing that matters."

"I can't stay," he mumbled and looked down at his hands. "I tried, but I can't be here. I can't live in this little world. Ever since I woke up, I've been fightin', and I can't go back."

"That's bullshit. I spent all my life puttin' up with awful shit, Rick, and I'm here. If ya wanted peace, ya'd find it, but ya don't want peace, ya want power. Ya think ya can help get Griffin on its feet, that's one thang. It's another for ya to leave your girl here, go off and play cop again. Ya ain't a fuckin' cop no more. You're just a man. And if ya keep makin' piss poor decisions, ya ain't gonna wind up a good one."

"I can't keep her." He spoke quietly. "I just can't. I can't see where I've failed her again and again. She don't want me, Daryl. She don't want me at all. I look at her and I see Lori and all the ways I let her down. I see Shane and the knife I shoved in his chest. I just can't do it no more. I want her to be better, but there is no better with me. She can be better with y'all. You and Beth will treat her as good as your own. Hell, Beth took care of her from the time she was born until the prison fell. You were the first person to feed her, Daryl."

They all sat in silence for several seconds before Beth couldn't take it anymore. "I don't know what to say, but I can guarantee ya that I'll treat that little girl with more care than you did."

Rick nodded, looking down at his hands then she walked away.

* * *

"So, that's it?" Daryl asked when Beth shut the bedroom door. "Ya gonna take off again?"

"I think I can do some good there, and I know I can't stay here."

He looked over at his old friend and shook his head. "How can ya leave her?"

Rick looked up at Daryl and asked, "What have I ever done for her?" He shook his head. "All she's ever known is pain, runnin', starvin', the cold. Since she's been here, she's gotten to relax and smile. It ain't 'cause of me that it's happened. It's 'cause of y'all."

Daryl shook his head. "I think ya should fight more for her."

"I think I'm already lost," he admitted and stood up. "Ain't no way back for me no more."

Daryl laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes as tight as they would go.

"Promise me," Rick said quietly. "You'll take care of her like she was your own blood."

"I will," he said quietly, truthfully. "Already think of her like that."

"I'll be back once a week to visit."

"Yeah." Daryl nodded his head against the desk, and Rick walked away.

Again.

* * *

Two days later, they left for Griffin.

They didn't take much more than what they had arrived with because there was a house they would be staying in, and the town had accumulated a lot of extra clothes and housewares since they had started scavenging the area in large groups.

Daryl nodded at Rick right he closed and locked the gate, but neither man said a word.

Carl had stopped him earlier that morning and asked him to take good care of Judith. At first, Daryl didn't know what had gotten into him, especially after that big talk about doing right by Judith because of their mom, but Carl looked him in the eye and said, "I just wanna do somethin' for me this time. For a little while. I wanna get me a girl."

Daryl shrugged at that. "If that's what ya think's important."

Carl had looked down at his boots then back up to Daryl's eyes. "I'm tired of bein' alone."

At that, Daryl could sympathize. Still, he felt the need to try and reason some more. "If ya leave her now, she ain't gonna come live with ya when ya find a woman. She'll stay here for as long as we do."

"I know," Carl whispered then placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder. "She's better here. Beth and ya have taken such good care of Sawyer. She needs to be in a place where she's happy, and she won't be happy in Griffin."

Daryl wanted to shake the kid by the shoulders and yell at him, saying that Judith wouldn't be happy without her family, but it didn't seem to matter. Rick, Carl, and Michonne were all forged in the fires of battle, and there was no taking them away from that, and no use dragging Judith into it.

* * *

The first few days, Judith kept to herself.

Beth tried to coax her out of her shell, but she would just burrow down deeper. Even Sawyer couldn't get to her go and play with him while Daryl and Beth got the garden ready.

Carol had designated herself the nanny and followed the kids around the armory and yard. She might not have been the sanest at the moment, but Daryl knew without a doubt that Carol would put down anything that crossed those kid's paths before they even noticed.

A long time ago, he had been so angry with her and her choices for killing Karen and David, but now, he just saw her for what she was. A survivor protecting the people she cared about. Even if her motives were good, the outcome was poor. He wondered a little if Tyreese ever found out, and if that's why they had become so close.

Ty was a good man, and Daryl could see how his forgiveness would push Carol to the edge and his death pushed her over.

"It's gonna be a big garden this year," Beth said and pulled him out of his thoughts. "We prolly won't need all of it, but maybe we can trade with Griffin if the safe zone turns out okay." Daryl grunted, and Beth placed a hand on his arm. "I ain't sayin' that we move down there. I'd never leave here. I'm just sayin' that barterin' did good things for us before Newnan fell. Maybe the same will happen here."

"I know, darlin'. I'm just bein' pissy is all."

"I don't mind takin' care of Judith, Daryl. I never have," she whispered.

"Me neither," he said and turned toward her. " I just know what it's like to have your family leave ya like that. I don't want her to feel like she ain't worth a damn 'cause of it."

Beth wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist and pulled him in tight. "She'll never feel that way 'cause she knows that we want her here more than anythin'."

Daryl shook his head and moved away. "We ain't her blood. It ain't the same."

As if she was contemplating the way to say what she wanted to, Beth stood in silence for several seconds before she reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Daryl, we love her. We take care of her, we protect her, we make sure that she's fed and happy." She paused and moved to wrap her arms around his neck and her lips found the skin of his jaw before she whispered, "You and I know better than anyone that family don't have to be blood, sweetheart."

Daryl wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. Over her shoulder, he watched the kids run and play as Carol sat in a lawn chair keeping a close watch.

Beth was right.

This, right here, was their family.


	28. Chapter 28

Ch. 28

Thank you so much for all the love :)

This chapter needs a **trigger warning**!

If you'd like to know what that is beforehand, message me.

* * *

For the first couple of months, Rick, Carl, and Michonne would visit every Tuesday. At least, it was Tuesday according to Beth's calendar. Usually, they would get there in the middle of the morning and leaving with time to get them back to Griffin before dark.

Judith was happy to see them, but she was fine when they left, too.

Beth wasn't sure what to make of the little girl. If it had been her, she would have been devastated to only see her daddy and brother a few hours a week, but Judith seemed like she had grown away from her father a long time ago.

Crazy Aunt Carol, as Daryl had jokingly started calling her, said that Judith hadn't been Rick's responsibility since before they got to Alexandria. Judith had preferred to be with Tyreese, and since Rick was so busy, he let him be her main caregiver.

Beth was torn at that. Even if Tyreese had taken care of her, Rick should have been the one Tyreese had looked to for advice.

He wasn't though.

Tyreese had asked Carol for advice every once in a while, but for the most part, he had been on his own. Then when he died and Carl had been shot that forced Rick to face his decisions regarding his kids.

He had brought them to Alexandria to find safety, but even after he realized it was just fighting, he stayed instead of getting his kids back away from it.

Her mind briefly flickered to Abraham, a man she hadn't given a thought to in years, and remembered a piece of his argument to sway them out of Georgia.

"The world needs men like Rick Grimes to help rebuild it. To keep it solid. Ya gotta see that."

He had made a similar plea to Daryl, but appealed to the provider and protector in him. At that moment, he thought if he had one, the other would follow. Beth wondered what happened to Abraham. No one mentioned him after they arrived at the armory. They only told of the loss of their group members.

She looked over at Judith and wondered if this was what most children would go through in this new world. After all, the whole world fell, not just their little corner of Georgia.

* * *

As the weather got warmer, and the garden grew taller, Daryl spent most his time in the yard, teaching Judith and Sawyer about the bow.

Beth loved watching him get down on one knee and place their fingers in just the right spot or turn their shoulders to get them lined. He was so good with his children.

She paused at that thought then nodded to herself. Children was right. Judith was theirs just as much as she was Rick's. She had taken care of her for months before the prison fell, and Daryl helped keep her alive with the formula that he scavenged.

Beth placed a hand against her stomach and felt a little sliver of fear slid down her spine. Her mother's words floated through her mind, "Accidents happen every day, Bethy."

It might not have been every day, but it seemed like another accident had happened a few years after the last one.

* * *

Beth was moody and tired. Her breasts ached so terribly, and she thought that she would never be able to keep down food again.

That was just in the couple of weeks after she had that inkling of what might be going on.

Daryl noticed, of course, as did everyone else, but the kids didn't understand. Carol would pat her back with she finished vomiting and told her it would all be okay.

The look that she and Daryl shared was full of wariness, though. They knew how to have a baby. They had done it all before, but it was something they had never planned on again.

"Ya okay?" He asked quietly as Carol nudged the kids off to play chase around the yard.

"Yeah," she said with a nod.

"Ya need anythin'?" Daryl placed a hand on the side her neck and tilted his head down to look into her eyes.

"Nah."

"Hey, darlin', don't worry right now," he whispered. "We still got everythin' of Sawyer's. I remember every word of those fuckin' books. Don't worry."

Beth could only nod the knot in her stomach not loosening a bit.

* * *

The following day was Tuesday and no one came for a visit. Beth wondered if something terrible had happened at first, but after she stopped and thought about it, she knew it was fine. And, honestly, she had expected it anyway.

"He's just busy, darlin'." Daryl continued to water the garden from the bucket he had toted up from the creek. "He'll come around."

* * *

The next Tuesday was the same. No one came, and Judith didn't really notice. Carol kept her and Sawyer busy and then Daryl took them target practicing after his chores were done.

The only noticeable difference between this Tuesday and the last one was her. The morning sickness had stopped, and her breasts weren't so sensitive. She felt okay and could stomach food. Even in her second trimester with Sawyer she had never felt the absence of symptoms so quickly.

She shook away negative thoughts and just enjoyed being out in the warm sun for a little while.

It wasn't until lunchtime when she was in the kitchen that she accepted something was wrong. A sharp twinge of pain on her right side caused her to double over then for several minutes she felt a consistent cramping in her lower stomach.

Beth swallowed hard and shook her head.

Daryl would say it was all normal. Everything was just fine, and it was first trimester pains.

Her stomach cramped again so hard that she gasped a little and curled her hand into a fist. "Please, no," she whispered, pleading with the God she still believed in that what was happening wasn't _really _happening. The request went unanswered as she felt the trickle of blood run down the inside of her leg.

* * *

Grief was a funny thing.

She had already known that there were levels to it, but she never thought about how people coped with loss like the one they had experienced. She had never known someone who had lost a baby.

On instinct, she had screamed out for Daryl, and he came running, and she hadn't even needed to say anything. His eyes met hers, and she knew that he knew.

Carol wrangled the kids back, and he took Beth into the bedroom. That's where she spent the next few days. It hurt a lot, and there was so much going on in her mind that she didn't know where to begin.

There had been someone there, and then, there wasn't. A little flicker that could have had a future with them, but now it was just a painful mess of blood and tissue. Too small to know which part was their child and which part might not have been. The books Daryl had found years ago had given little information on losing a baby, but Carol had talked her through most of it.

Beth couldn't shake the feeling that it just wasn't right. She had done everything she should have done. She ate as best she could. She drank plenty of water. She rested. All the meat she ate was fully cooked and the canned food hadn't been spoiled.

"It just happens," Carol had said. "There's no rhyme or reason to it."

When Beth didn't answer, she stood up to leave. "It's Tuesday, by the way. Rick and the others are out back this time."

"I don't wanna see 'em," she mumbled into her pillow.

"I know, sweetheart."

She stared at Daryl's pillow for a long time before she finally let the tears fall over her lids. She had always wanted children. Another little boy or maybe a sweet little girl that would have Daryl wrapped around her finger. She knew that Daryl had said that he didn't want anymore, and to a degree, she knew he was right.

Without meaning to, she remembered the moment she first had a feeling she might have been pregnant, and the single thought that had passed through her head.

_What if this baby is too much for us to handle? _

"I didn't mean that," she sobbed into the pillow. "It's not fair!"

But like days earlier, there was no response.

* * *

"Where ya been?" Daryl asked as he straightened up the woodpile against the back wall. He spent a good portion of his days outside. Beth wanted some space, and he needed to keep busy.

It was a strange thing to miss someone so much that you had never even met.

"We went on a long run and just got back. I was gonna send a messenger then figured ya didn't want anyone else to know where ya were stayin'."

Daryl nodded. "'Preciate that."

"How are ya?" Rick seemed a ton lighter since he left, and Daryl knew it was because he was out saving the world and had a purpose again.

"Same shit, different day," he grunted as he shoved a piece of wood on top of the rest.

Rick eyed him for a moment then turned as Judith and Sawyer came running their way. Both kids smiling, neither one understanding the reason for the quietness around the armory, and Sawyer not quite getting why his momma held him tighter or told him that she loved him so much more.

"Momma's cryin' again," Sawyer said. "Juju said that Miss Carol said that ya need to give her flowers."

Daryl looked down at his son, ignoring Rick. "Think she'd like 'em more if they came from you."

Sawyer grinned and took off with Judith around the side of the armory were some white wild flowers grew. It was also the same side that he had taken all the bloody sheets and buried them, but no one knew that. He had said he was going to wash them, but changed his mind.

"What's wrong with Beth? She sick?" Carl asked as he popped up beside Rick.

Daryl looked between the two of them and saw Carol talking to Michonne. He wasn't sure what to say. They hadn't lost the baby because that implied it could be found, and he hated that.

"There was a baby," he said quietly as he eyed the kitchen door, knowing that down a short hallway Beth was probably crying her eyes out again. "Now there ain't."

He briefly met Rick's eyes and saw something he hadn't seen in a long time.

Empathy.

* * *

It was a couple of days after Rick and the others went back to Griffin that Daryl came into their room and laid down behind her.

"Ya gotta get up, darlin'."

Beth laid there quietly, but she held onto his arms. Most nights after Sawyer fell asleep between them, he would move him over and scoot up behind Beth. Neither one of them said anything. They mourned together in the darkness.

"I didn't even know I wanted her until after she was gone." Beth gripped his arm. "Do ya think God took her 'cause there for a minute, I thought she'd be more of a burden than a blessin'?"

Daryl felt his throat closing up. "Fuck no, girl. Ain't no way of knowin' why, but it sure as hell ain't 'cause of that."

"I wanted her," Beth rolled over and cried against his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. "So did I."

* * *

Slowly, Beth came back.

After that day in bed, she went outside a lot more, sitting in the lawn chair watching Sawyer and Judith play while Daryl did odd jobs around the armory or went out to check the snares.

Two weeks passed again with no visitors, but that had become the norm, and no one questioned it.

One day when he was giving shooting lessons to the kids, Beth joined in, holding his crossbow. He quirked an eyebrow, and she sent him a small grin. "I think I might need a refresher course, Mr. Dixon."

Daryl leaned over the kids and kissed her softly, curling his hand around her jaw. "I love ya."

Beth nodded. "I love ya, too."

"Things are gonna be fine."

With a nod and a little bit of the old spark back in her eyes, she stepped away from the kids and patiently waited for her turn.

* * *

"Momma's good," Sawyer said over dinner that night.

Judith nodded her head. "When I grow up, I wanna shoot like Miss Beth."

Sawyer grinned. "Ya can be like my momma, and I can be like my daddy."

"We'll always have food. And it's nice here," Judith said through a mouthful of beans.

Both children remained unaware of the three adults staring at them, and Daryl knew they were all thinking what he was thinking.

He hoped that they would get that chance.


	29. Chapter 29

Ch. 29

This is a shorter one than usual, but the next two are pretty long :) This story will be complete at Ch. 31!

I hope you enjoy them!

* * *

Months passed by in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

The kids grew so fast that Daryl had to take a run before winter had truly set in, and for the first time in months, Carol went outside the fence with him. She was a different kind of person now, but she was still fierce.

After they had gone through a little town near Griffin, they decided to make the trek up that way to see how things were going. Neither one of them had ever been there before, so it surprised them to see the massive chain link fence with barbed wire topping it that was blocking each entrance into downtown. Before the fences were blockades of tires and pikes.

A man on the wall called out for them to stop, but Carol just flipped him off and kept walking. "We're here to talk to Rick."

The young man didn't seem to know what to do, but he didn't fire his weapon, instead, he climbed down a ladder and opened up a small panel of fence to let them in.

"Who are ya?" He asked, pointing his weapon at them.

Daryl's defenses went up, and he raised his bow to meet the man. "We're friends of his. Tell him Daryl and Carol are here to see him. If he's busy, just go get Carl."

The kid nodded and walked away, leaving the gate unguarded and Daryl shook his head. "See this shit?" He pointed to the fence. "This is why ya can't depend on no one but yaself. We coulda been some assholes that had been watchin' the place a while, and he left us unattended." Carol nodded as he continued to rant. "And he wants me to bring my kids here to this place. Can't believe that shit."

Five minutes later, the kid showed back up with Rick and Carl in tow.

"Is everythin' all right?" Rick asked, his eyes were wide with fear.

"Fine," Daryl muttered. "Ya need to keep more men on the fences. This boy scout just left us here by ourselves."

Rick huffed out a deep breath. "We're still learnin'. Gotta lot of younger boys that are tryin' to pull their weight, but we ain't got enough time to train 'em."

"Ya better get to that shit then. We ain't bringin' the kids unless this place is locked up."

"Ya worry about your own wall, and I'll worry about mine, how about that?"

"Whatever," Daryl muttered. "We just wanted to check on y'all. Ya haven't been back in a while."

Rick nodded, and Carl looked a little ashamed. "Just got busy tryin' to get ready for winter s'all."

"So are we. Done harvested and canned everythin'. I've been huntin', too. I'm teachin' the kids how to shoot a bow still."

"Our town's a bit bigger than your place. Can't just go off and leave it unattended." Rick looked around. "Ya tell Judith when the winter comes that y'all will visit us here."

They stood in awkward silence for several seconds before Daryl said, "I ain't brinin' the kids here until I know your defenses are tight."

"They will be."

Neither one of them seemed to have much confidence in that statement, but Daryl followed him anyone when he offered him a tour. It was a lot like Woodbury. Just a downtown area cornered off with apartments created out of old shops and buildings. It was as well maintained as they could get.

Rick had an apartment in a building close by. It was just a single room, but it seemed plenty of space for him. Daryl chose to ignore Michonne's things that were folded neatly against the wall.

Carl lived across the hall. Supposedly single, but Daryl had his doubts on the matter.

Most of the people in town were around Daryl's age of little younger. The older people seemed to have formed a council, and Daryl could imagine just how well that would end up going over eventually.

All in all, it was a decent town, he guessed, but he didn't trust it.

As they were leaving, Carol spoke for the first time to Rick. "We got lots of goods. If we brought some, could be barter for some things?"

"Absolutely," Rick said immediately. "Any time."

They nodded and Carl opened the gate for them. "I'll try and come by and see Juju before too long," he said quietly.

Daryl grunted in acknowledgment and stepped outside the fence. "Ya ain't back our way in a few weeks, I'll come back. Prolly trade some things."

* * *

Later, as they walked through the woods, Carol sighed and nudged Daryl with her shoulder.

"It wasn't bad. He seems to be doin' good there. Better than before."

"Ummhmm."

"I ain't sayin' that we all gotta be best friends again. I don't think we can be anyway. I just think that we share this story together, and it's good to have that with someone—especially now.

"Ya went through things with Rick that ya never have with anyone else. You're raisin' his daughter for him. Even if y'all got some distance between ya now, you're still brothers. Maybe this is just that awkward estrangement phase that some families go through."

"Don't know shit about that. I think my whole family was always estranged."

"Things will get better."

They got home that evening and Sawyer ran at him, squealing loudly as Daryl swung him around. He couldn't imagine leaving his kid like that, and if someone had told him years ago that he would be a devoted father, he would have laughed in their face. The end of the world had changed him for sure.

After dinner and tucking in Sawyer, Daryl sat down on the couch in the kitchen and told Beth all about the day. About Griffin and Rick.

"It wouldn't hurt to visit. I already said that a while ago."

"I know. Instead of scavengin', I might start tradin' with 'em."

Beth kissed his cheek and smiled. "Now, that's a great idea."

"One day, you and the kids will come, too," he promised.

"I'd really love to get out of the armory for a little while," she whispered. "It's been so long since I've seen town."

Daryl nodded and took her hand. "Ain't shit out there worth seein'."

"Ya said that to me once before, ya know?"

He hummed in acknowledgement, and Beth laughed softly. "I have a good feelin' about all of this."

"Why?"

Daryl turned and looked at her. The lone kerosene lamp they only burned on special occasions highlighted her features and she looked like something out of a dream.

"Don't know. Just figure it's time for us to catch a break. Especially them."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Maybe your right."


	30. Chapter 30

Ch. 30

Thanks so much for reviewing! I hope you're having a great start to the new year!

Sorry this is so late today, FFn was giving me a hard time about uploading this one.

The epilogue will post in a couple of days, I'm still working on it.

* * *

Daryl had made several trips to Griffin over the last year, but Rick and Carl didn't travel out to the armory any. Judith was starting to get mad, and Daryl knew he would have to do something soon, so he and Beth decided they would take their first trip out of the armory as a family.

According to Beth's calendar, it was January, and the weather agreed with that. The walk to Griffin was way too cold, and Daryl was kicking his own ass for thinking the kids would be okay in such weather. By the time they reached the gate, Sawyer's nose was red and his eyes were watery.

If he got sick again, he didn't know what they would do.

"Stop," a voice called from the gate.

Like always, Carol flipped them off and kept walking, holding Judith's hand. A gunshot pierced the air and Beth curled her body around Sawyer's as Daryl lunged forward to grab Judith. The bullet sliced through his jacket and his upper arm. "Fuck," he yelled and stumbled back.

"Dad!" Sawyer screamed.

Beth ran to where he was kneeling. "Oh my god. Where are you hit?"

"Arm," he ground out and looked up at Carol who's eyes had glazed over and her hand was on her gun. "Get that gun away from her." He motioned toward Carol, and Beth reached over and laid a hand over hers, pulling the gun away and putting it in the back of her own jeans.

"Ya just had to stop." The man yelled down from the wall. "Didn't mean to shoot no one."

"We're here to see Rick. Daryl and Carol've been here a few times already," Beth called out as she tucked Sawyer's face into her neck.

Daryl could still see his eyes, peeking down at him in fear.

"I'm okay, Bub. Don't ya worry about nothin'."

He nodded a slightly, but he didn't look convinced.

"Ya can't just try and walk through here. That ain't gonna fly."

"We ain't never had trouble gettin' through before," Daryl gritted out. "Let us in now."

The man stared them down for a few seconds longer before he pointed at a man on the ground and said something to him.

Daryl put pressure on his arm and groaned. The pain was fucking terrible, and he was close to throwing up. He had been shot once before, but that day had sucked anyway and the bullet wound had been the least of his worries then. Now, the pain of the bullet was causing him to tremble a little.

Judith wrapped her arms around Beth's leg and hid her face while Carol crouched down beside him and took over holding his arm.

"Don't know that man at the gate," she whispered. "He's never been there before."

"I know." Daryl closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't know what kinda shit's gone down since we were last here."

Daryl took that moment to look up at Beth. Her back was rigid and one arm was holding Sawyer tightly to her chest and the other was wrapped around Judith. He watched as her eyes scanned the area, and he realized she was looking for the walkers that should have been drawn in by the sound.

"They ain't good on their feet no more," he whispered and tapped her leg with his hand. "It's too cold, and they're pretty damn mushy now, too. We'll be safe until they open the gate."

"Ya've been shot." Her voice was tight as she looked down at him. "You're bleedin'."

"But I ain't bleedin' out," he countered and stood up. "Through and through." He swayed a little and leaned against Carol. "I'll be fine."

The squeaking of the gate pulled their attention, Rick came running out, his eyes searching for Judith, he guessed.

"What the hell happened?" He looked at Daryl's blood soaked arm and picked up his daughter, hugging her close.

"Just came for a visit," Beth said quietly. "We ain't see ya in a while." Daryl figured Rick would have been stupid not to hear the condemnation in her voice. "One of your men shot at Carol, who was walkin' with Judith."

Rick turned around and the man shrugged. "Wasn't aimin' at 'em. Bullet went left and hit the guy. If he hadn't moved, he'd have been fine."

"Get the fuck back to your post, and remember what ya been taught about usin' up bullets."

"Yes, sir," he muttered and walked back through the gate.

"We need to get ya to the doctor."

Daryl pushed away from Carol and took Beth's free hand, pulling her along. Once they were inside the walls, Beth let go of his hand and started rubbing Sawyer's back.

They were led to a building that hadn't been anything the last time Daryl had came for a visit. Now, it held several chairs in the front and behind a partition, there were beds lined up with a few patients around the room.

"Take a seat," Rick said and walked toward the back of them room.

He came back a couple of minutes later with a middle-aged woman who had a battered stethoscope around her neck.

"Let's see it," she said and took come scissors off a table.

"Nah," he said and shook his head. "Jacket's still good. I'll just take it off."

"You could hurt yourself a lot worse."

"Ain't got shit to replace it with," he muttered and started to shrug out of it.

Beth sat Sawyer down on the bed beside him and helped him get his good arm out of one side then slowly brought it around and moved it down his shot arm.

"I'll fix it for ya," she whispered and gave him a small, still scared, smile.

"I know, darlin'."

The doctor looked over his arm briefly then doused it in whatever antiseptic she had.

"Mothafucker," he spit out through clenched teeth.

"Gotta clean it," she said like he was stupid.

"Don't mean that it don't hurt like a bitch, though."

The lady met his eyes and cocked an eyebrow. "I've heard of you from Rick before. Are you gonna let a little bullet wound bring ya down?"

Daryl closed his eyes as she cleaned out the inside of the wound then gathered up the stuff for stitches to close it. He wanted to tell her to back the fuck off and let Beth do it. He could feel Beth's hand on the back of his neck, tracing little circles on his skin, trying to keep him calm, and that was the only thing that stopped him.

The wound oozed, and Sawyer leaned against his good arm.

He wasn't sure when Rick had stepped outside with Carol or Judith, but he was happy about it.

"Does it hurt, daddy?"

"A little, Bub."

He watched Sawyer watch the doctor as she pierced his skin and drew the needle through it, pulling the skin back together. His face was pale, and with every pull of the needle, he would flinch.

"Ya know that my daddy had to sew up your daddy once before?" Beth asked, drawing his attention away from what was going on.

Sawyer looked up at Beth as she told him about a stubborn Daryl that got himself in a bind. She dramatized it, or at least, he thought she did. Made him out to be some hero looking for a lost little girl when really he had been a stubborn asshole that took a horse he didn't know how to ride and almost got himself killed.

The story kept Sawyer occupied, though, and soon they were done and a nice white bandage was placed over the wound that would become his newest scar.

"We don't have any pain meds for something this small," the doctor said with a sympathetic smile. "Just the big stuff now."

"Gettin' shot ain't big?" Beth asked with an edge in her voice. "One of your men shot him, and now ya ain't even got a Tylenol ya can give him?"

"Well, first of all, it's a clean shot. It'll heal. Second, he isn't our people, we save the good meds for ours. That's Rick's rule not mine."

She looked like she was going to give a third reason, but Beth rounded the bed and stood toe-to-toe with her. "_Your _people?" The doctor backed up a bit. "Let me tell ya one thang lady, ya wanna talk about Rick's people, we're his people. That deer meat ya prolly ate last week or the rabbit or canned goods that come in pretty mason jars that ya always have to give back come from my husband and my home.

"Now, I don't give a damn if all ya got is baby aspirin, you're gonna open up that medicine cabinet, and you're gonna give him somethin' to stop his body from tensin' up all over when he barely turns his arm."

"I can't do it," she said again and raised her hands. "It's not my decision. Your husband is gonna survive, giving him pain meds wouldn't be for the greater good of everyone else, especially if someone came in with a worse injury."

Daryl saw the moment she left her body and went somewhere else. Saw her eyes stare blankly at the woman and see someone that wasn't there and hadn't been there in years. He barely registered the moment that Beth took the gun from the back of her jeans and pointed at the woman.

The doctor backed up fast, hitting the cabinet behind her and knocking her head against the wood.

"Darlin'," Daryl said softly. "Ya gotta put it down." He reached his hand out to put over hers, but she backed away, still aiming at the female doctor.

"I'll give him whatever you want me to." The woman reached for keys on the hook behind them. "I'll hand it to you, and you can give it to him."

"No," Beth whispered. "Not a chance in hell. Don't ya even think about givin' him anythin'."

Daryl was just as confused as the doctor, but he moved toward her. "You're scarin' Sawyer," he whispered.

Beth met his eyes and he watched as whatever played out in her mind disappeared and she was back in the room with them.

"I wanna go home now," she said quietly and handed over the gun. "I'm done here."

Daryl watched as she picked up Sawyer with shaky hands and whispered apologies into his hair as she walked down the row of beds and out the door.

He followed closely after her, and when she reached the gate, Daryl stopped her. "We need Carol and Judith."

Beth nodded, but didn't move as he went and got them and brought them back to the gate with Rick and Carl.

"I'm really sorry all this happened," Rick said. "I wish Michonne was here, but she went out on a run. She's gonna hate that she didn't see Judith."

"Ya know where we are," Beth said and pulled Daryl toward the gate.

"I was thinkin' that maybe we could keep Judith here once it starts warmin' up again. We got things settled more, and I want her with me." Daryl shook his head at Rick, and Beth reached out for Judith. "Just thought ya should know what I've been thinkin'," he said and took a step back. "Give ya some time to get used to the idea."

Daryl wanted to slam his crossbow across his jaw, but there wasn't anything he could do. She wasn't his daughter. He couldn't keep her if Rick wanted to take her back. Hell, it had been over a year since he had left her at the armory, and he had figured sooner or later, he would want her back.

"We'll work it out," Daryl mumbled.

* * *

It was late spring, and they had just celebrated Sawyer's sixth birthday with some berries that seemed to be making a comeback in the woods, and everyone had been sitting out in the backyard.

Daryl held Beth on his lap as they watched Sawyer draw back his bow and hit the mattress every time. Judith had her own bow, and she was just as good. He was damn proud of both of them, and knew it wouldn't be much longer until he took them out on a hunt with him. One at a time, though, just in case they needed to run, and he needed to carry them.

None of them had been prepared for the calling out of his name from the front gate. They all knew instantly why Rick was there, and Judith ran for the armory.

Beth stood up shook her head. "He can't do this to her."

"He is," Daryl said and went to the gate.

They sat around and talked for a while, but Rick wasn't budging. Griffin was safe, and it was high time that he took over the reins and started raising his own kid.

Judith cried and screamed as Rick practically drug her away.

Surprisingly, Sawyer didn't cry at all. He hugged her as she passed by him and said, "Bye, JuJu. Remember what my daddy taught ya, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered back and then she was gone.

* * *

They went and visited Judith several times throughout those first few months, but that fall Beth realized that she wasn't imagining things, and that she was pregnant again.

She was so careful and so worried. Daryl handled the news with a hopefulness that she didn't possess, and Carol just smiled and patted her cheek. "Doll, it ain't up to us. We're gonna be happy about a new baby here as much as we would if all we had was Sawyer."

Daryl had traveled to Griffin with Sawyer to tell them the news, and that, for a while, they wouldn't be coming to visit or trade. They wanted to stay bundled up at the armory and get ready for the next baby.

Rick regarded him warily at the news, and as they walked to the gate, he grabbed Daryl's arm. "Ya ain't gonna stop showin' up, right?"

"Nah, we'll be around. Just ain't gonna be leavin' Beth and Carol there with a new baby. I was there for everythin' with Sawyer. I ain't gonna miss this one."

Rick nodded. "Well, maybe I'll send Carl up there to check on y'all when it warms up again."

Daryl nodded and clapped his friend on the back. "Good luck, man."

"You, too."

The visit ended the same way it always did, Judith handing a drawing off to Sawyer, and Sawyer handing her a pretty flower bracelet that Beth taught him to make.

A look passed between the two fathers, and Daryl couldn't help but smirk. "Dixon men can woo the ladies when we wanna."

"Lord, help me," Rick muttered.

* * *

Months passed in the blink of an eye and before they were truly ready, Beth walked out of the kitchen door and called from him to come to her.

He let Sawyer keep up practicing while Carol watched, and once he reached Beth, he took her hand and asked, "How long's it been happenin'?"

She bit her bottom lip and looked guilty. "Since last night."

"Ya close?"

Beth leaned her head against his shoulder and nodded. "Water broke about five minutes ago."

Daryl kissed her forehead and led her back to the bedroom.

Delivering Lilah Belle was a walk in the park compared to Sawyer. There wasn't hours of labor and his movements were sure as he held her in his hands for the first time. She was a perfect little girl with dark brown hair like her father and brother, but she had pretty light colored eyes like Beth.

The night after Lilah's birth, he sat up watching her sleep in the portable crib that he had gotten for Sawyer so long ago. His boy would be seven in a few weeks, and he had been going hunting with Daryl pretty regularly now that Judith was gone to Griffin.

He knew how to track, even if he sometimes confused the different ones. He knew how to skin an animal, in theory. Beth didn't want him handling the knives until he was older, and Daryl respected that decision.

His kid was learning and he would be damn good at what he could handle by the time he grew older.

That made Daryl proud of Beth and himself, but mostly proud of Sawyer.

He looked down at Lilah, all sweet and innocent. No idea what was coming up, but knowing it wouldn't be nearly as bad as it had been. They would be isolated a lot, but if Rick kept Griffin under a tight leash, she would get to see other kids at some point.

"I'ma take good care of you, Miss Lilah," he whispered and touched her cheek softly.

Daryl laid back on his pillow and Beth automatically curled into his side. Sawyer slept on another mattress against the furthest wall now, so they got to cuddle close again.

"Ya feelin' all right?" He asked, brushing the hair off her face.

"Ummmhmm," she hummed. "Just sleepy."

"You sleep, darlin'. I'll keep an ear out for her."

She was warm around him and lulled him into a deep sleep pretty quickly after that despite his words otherwise.

His whole world was in that room, and he could breathe and sleep easier knowing that.


	31. Chapter 31

Epilogue

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story. All your comments have meant so much to me.

This chapter should have a **trigger warning** as well. If you'd like to know the reason, message me.

For the last time, here you go!

* * *

**Ten years later**

Life in the armory had maintained its quietness besides the few years that they had two children running around like banshees. Walkers got fewer and fewer. The safe zone in Griffin was good about warding off any troublemakers in the area.

He wouldn't have traded what they had for anything in the world.

The kids grew, and Sawyer proved to be a great big brother. He watched over Lilah like it was his job, and by the time he was ten, he would go hunting with Daryl and help kill food for their camp and to trade with Griffin.

Daryl was so proud of his son. He was kind and even-tempered most of the time. He would give his sister piggyback rides to Griffin when they went to visit, and help his momma can vegetables when Carol wasn't feeling well or she just wanted to chase after Lilah.

Daryl and Beth's little boy had grown up and become a good man.

That was why he was a little shocked to pull him off of a guy in Griffin on one of their day trips to trade things.

"What the fuck, boy?" Daryl growled and pulled him away.

Sawyer was all those good things, but Daryl made sure he knew how to take care of himself. And the man on the ground obviously hadn't had the same training.

"Nothin'." Sawyer spit out and looked down at the kid in the dirt.

He was as tall as Daryl now, shaggy hair, dark blue eyes, little janky ear still. Some days it was hard for Daryl to even comprehend that he had a son that was so similar to him. Beth said it must have been a Dixon thing because, besides hers eyes, Lilah carried a lot of Daryl's features, too.

"Now, that's a fuckin' lie. Ya don't wail on someone that don't know how to make a damned fist without good reason." Daryl held his son's arm and drug him away. "What's goin' on?"

Sawyer toed the dirt, and he flushed with anger. "Said he got with JuJu."

Daryl took a step back.

This was so far out of his league.

He would firmly be in the camp of "Who the fuck cares?" but apparently Sawyer was hurt. Hell, Beth hadn't been a virgin when they hooked up, and it didn't matter to him. They were each other's lasts, and Beth always said that was most important anyway.

And, honestly, he wouldn't deny that either.

He scratched his chin and asked, "Well, did ya talk to Judith, or did ya just beat on him at his word?"

"I know," he spit out, fists scrapped and clenched at his side.

Damn, Daryl remembered carrying around that same righteous anger before. He sighed heavily. "It don't fuckin' matter, Sawyer. She ain't yours. You're just a fuckin' kid."

Those words set off alarm bells in Daryl's head, and he wished he could take them all back at once.

"Just a kid?" Sawyer said, advancing on Daryl. "How old was momma when y'all got together?"

"That ain't none of your concern." He said gruffly and threw his hand in front of him to motion Sawyer to walk on. "Ya should just be happy it happened in the first place. You're standin' here 'cause your momma lost some sense somewhere along the way."

"My momma ain't stuipid," Sawyer said and ended up inches from his father's face.

It took everything to calm himself down. He would never lay a hand on him, but he wasn't about to stand for the disrespect.

"Ya need to back your ass up, son," Daryl said with a firm voice. "I ain't some fuckin' kid that lived in a safe zone all his life. I can take a punch just as well as I can give one."

He smirked. "Ya'd never hit me."

"Ya'd never hit me either."

At that Sawyer backed down, and sat down on the sidewalk of Main Street in Griffin.

"I just like her s'all, Dad. Just wanted her to be mine."

"She can still be yours," Daryl said quietly. He smiled softly as his son turned red and crouched down in front of him. "Listen to me, Bub, all ya'd ever have is regret if ya didn't say somethin' and somethin' happened to her." He paused, and his thoughts went to that black car with the white cross, to Grady where Beth almost moved too soon. "I know what that's like, so ya gotta tell her."

His boy nodded and Daryl stood up. "Now, I gotta go trade this meat for some things for your momma. Ya stay outta trouble, ya hear me?"

"Yes, sir," Sawyer said, but continued to sit on the concrete.

The other guy had been helped up by his friends, and Daryl eyed them a little as he got closer. He wasn't one to fight his son's battles for him, but just that once, he decided to step in.

Mostly due to the smug ass grin on that bastard's face. Daryl had known his kind when he was Sawyer's age. Entitled, worthless. They took what they wanted and be damn the consequences.

"Ya might think you're better than us, but ya ain't. That boy's known how to kill a man since he was about this high." Daryl held out his hand beside his thigh. "He's quiet, too. So am I. Might wanna sleep a little lighter than usual."

Daryl probably enjoyed the way his face paled a little too much before he walked away.

* * *

There were no more incidents that day, and Daryl only caught back up with Sawyer once they were leaving the gate.

Daryl had a bag full of clothes for Lilah, who was growing like a weed, plus some things that Beth had asked him to find. Carol had said she didn't need anything, but he brought her some pain meds that someone had tried to blend together from different herbal remedies.

They had been walking in silence for a while when Sawyer cleared his throat.

Daryl looked over at him, but didn't tell him to speak. Over the years, the silence between them when they were out was natural and comfortable, but now he got the feeling Sawyer wanted to speak, but was shying away from it.

"Go on," Daryl said. "Just spit it out."

"I don't know," he mumbled.

"Ya do. What's goin' on?"

Sawyer shrugged and then started chewing on his thumbnail. "I kissed Juju."

Daryl just side-eyed him for a second then asked, "Did she want ya to?"

Sawyer hummed.

"All right then. Good for you."

He peeked over at Sawyer and saw his face turn a bright red before everything spilled out. "Then it just happened so fast. And it was just quick, and I think it should've been longer maybe. I don't think I did it right."

Daryl's eyes widened, and he stopped in the middle of the road.

"She said it was okay, but I think she didn't wanna hurt my feelin's. I just know that when ya and momma go away together, you're gone a lot longer."

"Good Lord," he muttered. "Ya don't even need to think about that. Ya don't know what the fuck's goin' on." His skin flushed with an embarrassment that a man as old as him shouldn't have experienced.

"Juju said it's 'cause y'all hook up."

"Mothafucker," he said and drug a hand through his hair. "Listen to every word, I'm tellin' ya, okay?" Sawyer nodded. "Don't ya ever mention this to your momma. Ever."

"Okay."

"Next thang, it's always fast at first. It takes a little practice to get better. That bein' said, ya better not go near that girl and think about gettin' some without usin' protection, ya got me?"

"Yes, sir," he said quietly and blushed.

"Fuck my life," Daryl whispered. "I don't even know what to say to ya."

"Ya think she was bein' nice, sayin' it didn't matter?"

"I don't fuckin' know," he muttered. "Ya think she wants to be with ya?"

Sawyer nodded slowly.

"Then, yeah, she was prolly bein' nice. If she didn't give a shit, she wouldn't've wasted the effort."

They stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds. Daryl had never thought he would have to have this conversation with his son. No one had ever had it with him.

"She's pregnant."

Daryl looked at him like he was crazy. "Don't exactly happen that fast, Bub."

He flushed and shook his head. "Nah, dad, she's pregnant. She wants it to be mine."

"Nah," Daryl said and shook his head. "Ya ain't gonna get this put on ya. She fucked around, got in a bind, let her get out."

"He's a terrible guy," Sawyer argued and started wringing his hands together. "She didn't—doesn't wanna be with him."

Daryl ignored his slip in wording and pushed on. "She don't gotta be with him, but that don't mean ya gotta be the one to step up for a kid that ain't yours. She fucked around with ya to get ya to thinkin' ya needed to return the favor in some way. That's all this is."

"Nah, dad. She ain't like that. Ya know Juju."

Daryl looked his boy in the eyes and sighed. "This ain't on ya, Sawyer. You're seventeen, almost eighteen. This ain't for ya. This ain't your battle."

"I'm goin' back tomorrow, and talkin' to Rick about her."

"Ya can't do that. I need ya to help me till the garden and check the snares."

"Didn't you and momma do that on your own before I could? Ya don't need me. _She_ does."

Daryl squared his shoulders. "We did, but you're a part of _our_ family, Sawyer."

He nodded, but Daryl had a feeling the fight was far from being over.

* * *

That night after Lilah and Sawyer had gone to bed, Daryl sat up with Beth. Carol had gone to her room hours earlier, complaining of another headache. She had been getting those more and more often lately, and Daryl was starting to worry about what that might have meant, but pushed it aside for now.

"What's goin' on, Daryl," Beth asked quietly as she leaned into his side.

The years had been kind to her. She as still as beautiful as she had been when they got to the armory, her scars had lightened up, but still accented her face. Beth was his girl, and she always would be.

It didn't matter if she had a hand-me-down ring and never spoken vows. They were together in ways that some people would never even understand. She was his rock, and he was hers.

"Just the same every day shit, I guess," he said quietly and kissed her cheek.

"Sawyer seemed off when y'all got home."

Daryl shrugged. "Just think he's all messed up over Judith."

Beth sighed. "We should try and get her out here more. I'm sure he misses her."

"Ain't like that no more, darlin'. He don't miss his friend."

Beth's eyes widened. "Oh." She paused then asked. "Are they…together?"

"I think it's official as of today." He answered without giving the full truth.

"Oh my gosh. How excitin'! Sawyer's such a good boy, and the last time I saw Judith, she was just a doll. I bet they'll be great together."

He nodded and closed his eyes, leaning back against the couch.

The last thing he wanted to talk about was the walk home, and even less was the talk he would have to end up having with Rick.

She would find out eventually. Probably tomorrow night. Just not right now.

* * *

"Are ya serious?"

Daryl shrugged. "Listen, I didn't push him to this. You and Michonne have been so busy the last couple of years with expandin' that y'all stopped lookin' after her as good, and now, I've got my boy claimin' some baby is his when it ain't."

"Ya think she's trappin' him? Ya think my daughter's like that?"

After a few seconds, Daryl said, "I know what my boy told me. He knows he can come to me with anythin'. I'm tellin' ya, she's knocked up, and Sawyer's gonna go down for this even though that kid belongs to some douchebag that sits on his ass all day and doesn't know how the fuck to care for anyone."

Rick stared down at his clenched fists. "I know the guy. He ain't a good man. Ain't worth a shit. Had I known he'd been sniffin' around her, I'd have put a stop to it."

"Ya shoulda left her with us. None of this shit woulda happened then."

"It'd have been your boy's kid she's havin' then."

Daryl stood up and looked down at Rick. "At least it'd have been blood, and not some loser's."

"I gotta talk to her. See what it is she really wants. It ain't really fair that he don't know about the baby."

He cracked his knuckles and shook his head. "Rick, he don't deserve to know. If I were you, I'd make that little fucker disappear."

"I—I can't do that."

"Then just let me take Judith back with us. Let her have the baby out at the armory. Let that asshole forget her. Let it be Sawyer's."

"Thought ya didn't want to taint that Dixon bloodline."

That stung, and he bowed up at Rick. "I'll lose my son if I don't give in here. He's what matters to me right now. If he wants this, I'll stand beside him."

Rick nodded and then left him standing in front of his apartment in Griffin.

* * *

The conversation with Beth went better than expected. She sat quietly for several minutes then said, "Bring her back home."

"What about the baby?" He asked, shaking his head at the thought.

"What about her?" Beth looked at him with her brow furrowed.

"Ain't his."

"The baby is his." Her voice was strong. "No one else's."

* * *

The next day, they all went to Griffin, Lilah included.

She'd been there a few times, but since it had expanded and more people were around, he tended to keep Beth and Lilah out of there. He noticed the men started getting to the point where they felt they were owed something by the ladies, and he knew Rick would have to put an end to it soon.

Hell, Daryl felt it in his gut that Judith had been coerced in some way. Sawyer never said anything outright, and he probably never would, but it was just a feeling he had.

Rick was a good man, he had done good things, but this was another failing on his part, and most of the time, they were usually with his kids. It wasn't that he didn't love them. It was that he felt an obligation to help rebuild the world and take care of everyone.

He saw the same thing happen with Carl at the prison.

After Carl's initial, "I need to fuck everything that breaths" phase, he had settled down real quick with a ball buster named Sarah. She kept his ass in check, and they had both decided quick that they didn't want or need children, and he had even heard whispers that she had successful used morning after pills once before.

No one ever came out and asked about it, but every one knew it deep down.

His rage at Judith's pregnancy was fucking epic, but when he had come at Sawyer in Rick's apartment that afternoon, Daryl stepped between them and put his hands on Carl's chest.

"Ya back the fuck up. We ain't gonna have this."

"This motherfucker took advantage of my baby sister."

After staying quiet since they all arrived, Judith stood up, her scars tracing her neck, but her long brown hair covering them slightly.

"Carl, I love Sawyer. I have for a while. We didn't plan on this, but it's happenin', and I feel better goin' back to the armory with them. Mr. Daryl has delivered two babies, and Miss Beth, and Miss Carol are mothers. I think I'd feel better there."

"Ya can't be serious. We can take care of this Judith."

Her face paled, and she shook her head. "No. I can't do that. I'm sorry."

Carl stomped out of the room, leaving Daryl, Beth, Sawyer, and Lilah alone with Rick, Michonne and Judith.

"This is my fault," Michonne spoke up. "I wasn't around enough. I didn't pay enough attention."

"It's no one's fault but mine," Judith said in a broken whisper as she looked down at her feet.

And that was the moment Daryl realized the truth. It was also the moment that Rick drew his gun and headed for the door.

* * *

Daryl caught him inside the hallway and pulled him back.

"Not now. Not here."

His blue eyes were wild, and Daryl pulled him into a hug, crushing his body to his to keep him from moving. "It's gonna be okay. I'm sorry for poppin' off yesterday. We ain't gonna let this shit fuck up that kid, ya hear me? She's gonna be strong. I swear it." He pulled back and held Rick's face in his hands, steadying him. "And when the day comes, a few months from now, when no one puts it together, we're gonna take care of him, okay?"

"We?" Rick asked in a strained voice.

"Yeah, _we_. Don't no one fuck with our family."

* * *

Judith had to have been about six months pregnant, and she was glowing.

"Feel her," she said with a grin.

Beth placed her hand on her stomach and smiled. "I remember mine movin' around like that. It's an amazin' feelin',"

Judith nodded and went quiet. "I'm sorry about crashin' your family like this. I'm sorry for takin' advantage of Sawyer."

Without a second thought, Beth hugged her. "This isn't your fault."

Those words brought down the floodgates, and Judith sobbed against her chest. "I didn't mean to make him think I liked him. He was just always around, and I tried to be nice. He caught me by myself one day, and I couldn't get away. I couldn't even move. I tried to scream. I tried to hit him, but I couldn't.

"And then he told me that no one would believe a word I said. That I'd been all over him, tauntin' him. I wasn't. I swear I wasn't. Then the next day, Sawyer came to visit, and he handed me one of those flower bracelets like he always did, and I just lost it. I ran away, and I avoided him. Then I found out, and I practically attacked him the next time I saw him.

"I always wanted it to be him. I wanted that, and I didn't get it, and now he won't touch me at all. He sleeps beside me, and he does everythin' he can, but I'm just—I'm just ruined."

Beth's eyes filled with tears, and she tried to speak through the tightening in her throat. "Sweetheart, this isn't your fault. This coulda happened to anyone. And Sawyer doesn't hate ya or think you're ruined. He just doesn't wanna hurt ya even more."

"He doesn't think I love him. He thinks I picked him because he was the only one there."

"Dixons are some of the most stubborn people on the planet. Just sit him down and tell him."

Judith nodded, but didn't look convinced. "I'm gonna go lay down."

"Okay, sweetheart."

A little while later, Sawyer came in, carrying Lilah on his back. She was giggling and pulling on his overly long hair.

"There are my babies," she said with a smile.

"Juju around?" Sawyer asked, looking around the room.

"She went to lay down."

His brow furrowed. "She okay?"

"Just tired, baby. It's normal."

Sawyer nodded and walked down the hall to their room.

"What are ya doin', sweetpea?"

Lilah gave her a Dixon grin and hugged her. "Sawyer was teachin' me to skin a rabbit. He said I should know, so that I can start helpin' ya cook since Aunt Carol ain't feelin' too good."

Beth sighed, trying not to think about the intense headaches that had been coming on nearly every day with Carol. She just didn't have a clue what she would do when the day came.

"Did ya do good?"

"Ummmhmmm," she said and pointed out back. "Daddy's cookin' it on the grill. He said that tomorrow, he'll help me set my own snares, and that we're gonna learn to fight."

Beth's heart dropped as she realized his reasons for that.

"Good girl, sweetheart. You're gonna be a force to be reckoned with, ya know that?"

Lilah nodded. "Daddy said I'm gonna be able to kick any man's ass that tries to mess with me."

"Language, please, sister," Beth said and handed her a small plastic container with some berries.

"I'm sorry, momma. It slips."

"I know."

Daryl walked in that moment and picked up Lilah from behind swinging her around, almost making her spill the berries. "There's my little girl," he said. "Ya should see the way she uses a knife. It's a damned work of art. Ain't never seen no one better."

"Daddy, put me down!" She squealed and kicked a little, coming dangerously close to his crotch.

"Whoa there, darlin'. I'm puttin' ya down."

She smiled at him when she sat on the crouch, crossing her legs. She was so gangly for ten.

"I think momma should sing us a song."

Daryl sat down beside her and looked at Beth, "I think you're right. Sing for us, momma."

Beth blushed and rolled her eyes, but still started singing one of Daryl's favorites. She watched him lean his head back against the couch and close his eyes. Letting a calm settle over him.

* * *

Carol stayed in the room closest to the front door, Sawyer and Judith stayed in the middle office, and Daryl, Beth, and Lilah all stayed in the room they always had. It was a good little space for them, but crowded.

One night after everyone was sleeping, he pulled Beth into the barracks and up the creaky ladder to the roof. It was spring and so pretty outside. He remembered back to their first year here and the time they had spent up on this roof.

This was the spot she had told him about Sawyer.

Once they were up there, he pulled off each piece of clothing, kissing every little sliver of skin. Daryl made her shiver and sigh then whimper is name into the dark.

He leaned over her, feeling her hips cradle his, and pushed the hair off her face. "I love ya."

"Love ya, too."

Then he pushed in so slowly, savoring the feel of her around him, clinging to him as he moved in and out of her body.

It was slow and deep.

Everything he had been looking for, a connection where sometimes those days were few and far between. A longing glance, a touch that lasted just a bit too long. Maybe a few stolen moments in the pantry with his jeans around his ankles while he tangled his hands in her hair, letting her set the pace from her spot between his legs.

It was hard for him to believe that she was still with him. That he had kept her safe, and kept them safe.

He hadn't prevented a lot of shit from happening, but for the most part, it had been an excellent life.

When her body clenched around his, and his name passed quietly from her lips, he pulled away and finished against her hip, leaning in and kissing her at the same time.

"So good, Beth."

"Every time," she whispered and palmed his cheek.

They pulled their clothes back on, and she asked, "Did y'all ever deal with it?"

Daryl looked at her and narrowed his eyes before nodding. It hadn't been quick by any means, or even humane to be honest. He and Rick had pulled him from his apartment late one night and took him deep into the woods.

No one would ever find him.

"I understand," she whispered and linked her fingers together.

"Can't no one know."

"No one ever will."

* * *

Abigail Elizabeth Dixon was born on a beautiful summer day when the birds were chirping and the sun was shining. She had dark hair and blue eyes, and Sawyer couldn't put her down.

Daryl wasn't even sure how to deal with the feelings at seeing his son holding his own baby. It was too much, and he knew that Rick was looking at them the same way he was. Neither one of them had ever expected to make it this far.

"Ya take good care of 'em," Rick said and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be back a lot more. I'm—I'm givin' a lot of responsibility over to someone else. I need this more."

Daryl nodded. "I think that's a good idea. We can sit out around the fire, swap war stories."

Rick smirked then turned away. "I've made a lot of bad choices, Daryl. Ya only get so many chances to make things right."

"Yeah."

As he locked the gate after him and Michonne that time, he had a feeling it wouldn't be too much longer before he would be opening for them again.

* * *

"She looks like ya," Beth said to Judith with a smile on her face. "I remember when ya were just a little thang. I'd rock ya and sing ya to sleep. Carol would help with ya, too. We just loved seein' ya smile, Judith."

She was quiet for a little while then whispered. "I was afraid that I couldn't love her."

Beth ran a finger down the baby's cheek. "She's gonna be so easy to love, sweetheart."

* * *

That night Carol never came out of her room for dinner, and when Daryl cautiously unlocked the door, he saw what they had all been waiting for. She hadn't turned yet, but she definitely gone.

Beth couldn't contain her sobs as Daryl took care of her and wrapped her in a sheet. Sawyer dug the grave near the back wall while he and Beth held each other close on the couch, not even trying to stop their tears.

"We couldn't have done nothin', darlin'. She told me a long time ago that she knew what was comin'. She locked her door every night just in case."

Lilah sat on the floor, staring at the sheet.

"Why's there blood on the corner?"

"To keep her from turnin'." Beth answered quietly.

"Are those things still around?" She asked and looked at them with curious eyes. "I've only seen the ones that can't walk anymore."

"They're still here," Daryl said, his voice thick from crying. "If we ain't careful, things could go back to how they were again."

"I'm gonna miss her," Lilah whispered and climbed up onto their laps. "She was my friend."

"And let me tell ya somethin', sweet pea, she loved ya more than you'll ever know. You were a shinin' star to her. Made her happier than she'd been in a long time."

The tears still fell even with the uplifting words. And little Abigail joined in from the middle room.

A full circle.

* * *

_Life happens when you least expect it. _

He had read that quote a lifetime ago in some magazine when he was waiting for Merle to get out of his parole officer's cubicle.

At the time, he thought it was bullshit. Life was always happening, always moving along. There were bumps in the road, detours, little fender-benders, and full-on pile-ups.

And that had all been before the world went to shit.

After the turn, life was surviving day-to-day, seeing friends and family die right in front of your eyes. It was worrying about food and water and a place to sleep.

Then he had stepped away from it all with Beth, and life became more.

When he wasn't even looking, life went from being something that he just went along with to something that he thrived on. Friends still died, things didn't go exactly as planned, but it was still so much more than he had ever expected.

Four walls and roof became more than a shelter.

A sweet country girl became a fighter, his wife, and the mother of his children.

His children grew up strong and capable.

The world was still their little section of Georgia, and he might never step outside that boundary, but he was never lacking in anything.

The most overwhelming thing of all, though, was that Daryl knew their lives had turned out this way simply because he had grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him in that hospital hallway.

His stubborn refusal to see her go away from him again, and her trust in his word had brought them peace.

It brought them home.


End file.
